Italian Recreation

Jean-Antoine Watteau executed this elegant scene of leisure and entertainment, typical of his fêtes galantes paintings. These works show aristocrats in parkland settings enjoying music, conversation, and courtship. Watteau revitalized the waning Baroque style, shifting it toward naturalistic Rococo.

Watteau's works appear in Berlin's Schloss Charlottenburg, which holds an outstanding group of his major paintings including The Embarkation for Cythera and Gersaint's Shopsign. His paintings capture the refined pleasures of French aristocratic life with delicate brushwork and soft colors. Now at Schloss Charlottenburg in Berlin.