Allegory of Painting by François Boucher

Artistic self-reflection invites itself into the heart of the pictorial representations of French classicism. The great master François Boucher composes here a magnificent apology of his own art under the title “Allegory of Painting”. This virtuoso mise en abyme illustrates the Muse of drawing guiding the creative gesture under divine inspiration. The work bears witness to the importance granted to academic training and poetic imagination within the fine arts.

An elegant young woman, styled in a sophisticated bun, is represented in profile as she draws on a large oval canvas. With a precise gesture, she traces the outline of a cherub using a white chalk holder. At her side, three turbulent putti play in the clouds; one of them crowns the painting with a laurel branch, while another holds arrows. The painter wears a puffy white dress covered with a drape of blue-grey satin sliding off her shoulders. In the foreground on the left, a palette loaded with colored pigments and several worn brushes rest on rolled-up architectural blueprints. The lighting focuses on the face of the muse and on the light surface of the canvas being created.

François Boucher displays here all the rigor of his drawing and his fine knowledge of perspective. His oil painting technique is distinguished by fluid brushstrokes and a smoothness in the treatment of the satin drapes that catch the light with extraordinary accuracy.