Mercury Entrusting the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs of Nysa

Boucher's Mercury Entrusting the Infant Bacchus to the Nymphs of Nysa from 1734 is an early mythological work painted after his return from Italy, demonstrating his increasing mastery of the decorative mythological idiom. The subject comes from Ovid's Metamorphoses: Jupiter, to protect his son Bacchus from the jealous Juno, had Mercury deliver the infant to the nymphs of Nysa for safekeeping. For Boucher, the subject provided opportunity to paint winged Mercury, a group of graceful nymphs, and the cherubic infant in a lush landscape — elements he would deploy throughout his career with increasing sophistication.

The composition likely arranges Mercury descending from above while the nymphs below receive the child in a welcoming group. Boucher's warm palette and fluid figure drawing are already characteristic here, with putti-like Cupids and lush vegetation creating an atmosphere of pastoral abundance.