Concert Champêtre

Pater's Concert Champêtre of 1734 adapts the fête galante tradition to the pastoral musical gathering, a variant that combined the pleasures of outdoor leisure with the cultured refinement of music-making. The subject had roots in Giorgione's famous 'Concert Champêtre' in the Louvre (then attributed to Giorgione, now to Titian), and its reinterpretation in eighteenth-century France signaled the continuity of a poetic tradition. Pater, who died in the same year this work was completed, was among the most productive painters of the fête galante and produced numerous variants on this formula for a ready market of aristocratic collectors.

Pater's handling of the outdoor gathering emphasizes the shimmer of silk and the play of light through trees. The musicians are depicted with a gentle informality, their concentration on the music providing an intimate counterpoint to the more festive figures around them.