The Portal of Valenciennes

This Portal of Valenciennes, around 1710, in the Frick Collection, depicts the fortified gate of Watteau's hometown—one of his rare topographical subjects. Valenciennes, a Flemish-speaking city that had recently been annexed by France, was the formative landscape of Watteau's childhood. Watteau painted in oil on panel and canvas using luminous brushstrokes laid over careful preparation, achieving a shimmering surface that captures the play of light on silk and the atmosphere of damp parkland....

The massive city gate provides a solid architectural framework for the small figures passing through it. Watteau's rendering of the stone fortification and surrounding landscape demonstrates his early engagement with Flemish cityscape traditions.