About this artwork
This painting is based on a 1745 pantomime about a young shepherd’s awakening love for a shepherdess. The couple feed each other grapes—a fruit associated with Bacchus, god of pleasure—suggesting that their encounter is not entirely chaste. François Boucher’s compositions on pastoral themes comprise his most influential contribution to 18th-century French art. These lush and playful fantasies of rustic life, designed primarily for the private enjoyment of wealthy financiers and aristocrats, had little to do with the social realities of rural labor during the period.
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Status
- On View, Gallery 216
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Department
- Painting and Sculpture of Europe
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Artist
- François Boucher
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Title
- Are They Thinking about the Grape? (Pensent-ils au raisin?)
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Place
- France (Artist's nationality:)
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Date
- 1747
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Medium
- Oil on canvas
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Inscriptions
- f. Boucher 1747 (bottom, right of center)
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Dimensions
- Oval: 80.8 × 68.5 cm (31 3/4 × 27 in.)
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Credit Line
- Martha E. Leverone Endowment
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Reference Number
- 1973.304
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/44742/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
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