Diana leaving her Bath

Diana Leaving Her Bath (1742), in the Louvre, is one of Boucher's most famous paintings, depicting the goddess of the hunt and chastity at her bath, attended by a nymph. The painting caused a sensation when exhibited at the Salon of 1742, establishing Boucher as the supreme painter of the female nude in France. Diana is presented with the luminous, porcelain-smooth flesh that became Boucher's signature, her body idealized to the point of abstraction — beauty distilled to its purest decorative essence. The painting's combination of classical subject and sensuous treatment defined the Rococo aesthetic and influenced the depiction of the female body across European art and decorative arts.

Boucher renders Diana and her companion with luminous, pearly flesh tones against a lush landscape of blues and greens. The elegant figure composition and the sensuous treatment of the bodies demonstrate the refined Rococo aesthetic at its most accomplished.