Arcadian Nymphs Making Music

Boucher painted pastoral and mythological subjects for the French court throughout his career, and this scene of nymphs making music in an Arcadian setting dates from 1770, the final year of his life. By this date Boucher's decorative rococo style was falling out of favor with critics who championed the austere neoclassicism of artists like Vien, but he retained the patronage of Madame du Barry and continued producing the sensuous idylls that had defined French taste for decades.

Soft, chalky palette of pinks, blues, and greens creates the artificial pastoral atmosphere characteristic of Boucher's late work. The figures are arranged in a decorative frieze suited to overdoor or panel placement in aristocratic interiors.