Interior Scene

Interior Scene at the National Gallery, London, from 1787 shows Fragonard working in a more restrained, domestic mode in his later career. By the late 1780s, the Revolution was approaching and the aristocratic world that had sustained Rococo art was about to disappear. The bravura brushwork—rapid, swirling strokes building luminous effects—was applied alla prima onto canvas primed with warm ochre grounds, a technique Fragonard developed after studying Tiepolo in Venice.

The muted palette and careful observation of interior space show Fragonard responding to the more sober aesthetic of the pre-Revolutionary period. The composition's restraint contrasts with his earlier exuberance.