Watteau was one of the most original and inventive artists of the eighteenth century. His life was short and plagued by illness yet his work would have a profound impact on the development of French art, exemplifying the delicacy and grace of the style known as Rococo. Fêtes Vénitiennes is an example of a genre that Watteau himself invented featuring elegant people in romantic landscape settings, often engaged in amorous pursuits. A new term, fête galante, was coined by the French Academy to describe this type of painting.

Among the various figures in this picture there are three that command our particular attention; at the left, a man in oriental costume who strikes a self-confident pose; his dancing partner, a beautiful young woman who dominates the centre of the picture; and at the right, a seated figure who looks on as he provides the accompaniment with a musette, a type of small bagpipe. It is not clear what drama is at play in the encounter between the two dancers and the sad-eyed musician but there are plenty of visual clues such as the cloaked figure in the background who points towards the voluptuous statue of a naked nymph. Others huddle together in conspiratorial groups and include, at the left, a woman who seems to recoil from the advances of a young man. The title of the picture, Fêtes Vénitiennes, probably refers to an opera-ballet by the French composer André Campra which was first performed in 1710 in Paris. It is not known whether Watteau himself used this title, since it first appears on an engraving after the picture which was not published until 1732 – after the artist’s death. In any event, it is unlikely that this composition derives from any specific source and it seems that the artist’s intent was to evoke a dreamlike atmosphere with the charming setting, the fanciful costumes and the complex play of meaningful gestures and glances among the company.

The picture is in excellent condition, allowing us to appreciate Watteau’s precise yet very fluid handling of paint and the silken delicacy of his colour. The painting is also exceptional in that Watteau seems to have reworked it to include portraits of himself as the musician and his friend, the painter Nicholas Vleughels as the strutting male dancer. It has been suggested that the depiction of the two friends eyeing the same dancer may have had some private significance for the artist. It is indeed tempting to read the picture as a wistful depiction of some elaborate love triangle, but if we try to limit the work to any specific narrative then we risk diminishing its hold on our imagination. Watteau mingles reality and fantasy in a work whose meaning resides in its playful yet elusive mood.

This text was originally published in 100 Masterpieces: National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2015.