Tag: pilgrimage to cythera

Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau

Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau is one of the most important pieces of art in the 18th century. It took 5 years to complete (1717) and was Watteau’s submission to get into the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. His acceptance into the academy with Pilgrimage to Cythera was a key turning point in art history.

Historical Context

In the 1700s, the French aristocracy was gaining power and clout both politically and socially. They had so much time and money on their hands that they were able to gallivant through gardens, have large parties, and dress pretty outrageously. The aristocracy was gaining more control and power within the art scene of the time. In art history, this art movement is called Rococo and Pilgrimage to Cythera was the catalyst for the movement.

What’s Happening in Pilgrimage to Cythera by Watteau

The Pilgrimage to Cythera by Jean-Antoine Watteau (1717)

At first glance you may see a lot of wealthy people gallivanting in a park, and you’re not too far off. What we have here is a group of luxuriously dressed couples and they’ve made a Pilgrimage to Cythera

What is the importance of cythera?

Cythera is the supposed birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite, who’s the goddess of love. It’s an island in Greece and known for its beautiful, gorgeous, and fertile landscape. Cythera is a place to fall in love. In fact, off to the right you can see a statue of Aphrodite robed in flowers. The statue is a bust, so the top half is nude. She looks beautiful as she looks down on the group of lovers that have come to pay homage to her.

The lovers in pilgrimage to cythera

Let’s take a look at the couples in the painting, starting from the Aphrodite statue on the right and working our way left across the painting. You’ll notice they are all separate couples. Looking at the first couple on the right, you’ll see a young woman elegantly dressed. Her eyes look down, and she looks demure. The young man with her is kind of whispering in her ear. Maybe a flirtatious conversation. At their feet you’ll notice two things: (1) his weapon or walking stick is laid down as if to show this is harmless and his focus is on her, and (2) a little cupid. The cupid is half clothed and tugging at her dress, seemingly egging her on or goading her to fall into this flirtatious conversation. This couple doesn’t look overtly sensual in any way. Their romance feels harmless and cute.

Then, as your eyes go across the painting you can see this act of romance and falling in love kind of taking shape. With the next couple, the young woman is being helped up by her admirer. It seems she’s fallen into the flirtatious conversation. Moving on, the man in the next couple has his arm wrapped around the woman and is leading her away. Then, as you continue to look at the rest of the couples from right to left, you can see the couples getting more comfortable with each other. They have their arms wrapped around each other and there’s no more pressuring needed. No goading. More sensuality is happening. Remember, this is the island of love.

The boat

The couples who have fallen in love are making their way to a boat in the left-hand corner. The boat is gilded and you can see it’s wrapped in this beautiful red drapery. Next, notice the putti or little cupid baby angels. They’re very cute and playful and their purpose is to inspire romance and love.

the background

When looking at the trees, clouds, and landscape, you’ll notice individual brush strokes (a painterly style). The painterly style gives it a kind of airy feel. It feels feathery and flowy – a perfect scene for these couples to fall in love.

In the background, if you follow the river back to the left, you can see what looks like a little town in the distance. Historians flip-flop on whether the couples are leaving the island of Cythera or going to the island of Cythera. Due to the fact that we’ve got the Aphrodite statue, to me the evidence is convincing that the boat is at Cythera. Also, because the level of intimacy increases from right to left, in my opinion they are heading back to the boat after a luxurious, love-filled trip to the island. But this is all up for debate.

Pilgrimage to Cythera is the Catalyst to the Rococo Art Movement

Pilgrimage to Cythera was a very unique painting at the time. We’re coming from the Baroque period, when the art is heavy and has really sharp lines and contrasts between light and dark. Pilgrimage to Cythera shows a dream-like landscape depicting the aristocracy on a beautiful love-filled escapade to an island where they can fall in love. It’s a very new feel in 1717.

As already mentioned, Watteau uses this famous piece for his entrance into the French Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. He gets accepted, and this is really important not only him but also to art history in general. The academy had a hierarchy of categories in which paintings could fit into. They couldn’t find a category that fit perfectly for this piece, so they created a new category called fete gelante, which basically means wealthy people doing things in nature.

So, with this piece he not only creates a new category to display art but he also is a big part of starting the Rococo Art Movement, which starts in Paris and moves throughout Europe. The movement is characterized by depicting the aristocracy doing fun, sensual things. Rococo art is also full of pastel blues, yellows, greens, and pinks. For a perfect example, just take a look at my blog “The Swing by Fragonard – The Quintessential Rococo Piece”.

Understanding The Rococo Art Movement

Key pieces of the Rococo Art Movement included The Swing by Fragonard and Embarkation for Cythera by Watteau

The Rococo Art Movement was all about flamboyance, wealth, fun, and romance. During this time, the rich were attempting to answer the question – how do you live a happy life? And the art shows they had just a little fun in testing out this answer. To get the full picture, let’s dive into all the details of the movement.

What Inspired the Rococo Art Movement

The Rococo Art Movement was inspired by 3 things:

  1. Baroque Art Movement
  2. Aristocracy replacing the monarchy in France
  3. Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture

How Baroque influenced Rococo

Baroque (1600’s) followed the Renaissance (1400-1500’s). The Renaissance is a tough period to follow (how do you follow perfection?!). But Baroque art added in more drama when compared to Renaissance art. This included more diagonals, painterly brush strokes, contrasting light and dark, and more movement in the art.

This Baroque art style paved the way for the Rococo Art Movement. You can start to see the two styles blend together in architecture. As an example, the Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany has both Baroque and Rococo aspects. A lot of the architectural characteristics in this building come from Baroque. But then you see pastel colors and more organic features that exemplify Rococo.

In general, the Baroque art style had a big influence on Rococo art. As you study Rococo, you’ll see a lot of Baroque style layered into Rococo characteristics.

The Church of Vierzehnheiligen in Germany shows both Baroque and Rococo characteristics.
Church of Vierzehnheiligen, in Germany. Construction began in 1720.

Aristocracy replacing the monarchy

King Louis XIV was a flamboyant, dominant monarch that fit what the Rococo movement came to be known as – wealthy people having fun. But it wasn’t until his death in 1715 that there was an important shift from the monarchy to the aristocracy. The monarchy actually left Versailles, and the aristocracy gained a lot of political and economic power. During this time, a small percentage of the population owned 90% of the wealth in France. This laid the grounds for the Rococo Art Movement.

With lots a leisure time, people turned their attention to personal affairs and worldly pleasures. A culture of luxury and excess became prevalent in France. And that’s when the shift from Baroque to Rococo can really be seen.

Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France

The Baroque art style and the rise of aristocracy in France created the perfect soil for the Rococo Art Movement. Finally, if there was a catalyst of the movement that you can point to, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture and key decisions that were made within the academy, might have been that catalyst.

The Royal Academy was a prestigious art school that was difficult to get into. In the late 1600s and into the 1700s, the Academy created exhibitions for artists to display their art work. These exhibitions were a place to exchange and talk about art, literature, politics, and science. They were the birthplace of the art museum. And the perfect place for the aristocracy. Now the church and the monarchy weren’t the only ones controlling art, but the aristocracy was playing a major role in art movements.

In 1717, The Royal Academy accepted Jean-Antoine Watteau’s art piece, Pilgrimage to Cythera. This decision was huge at the time, because they couldn’t fit the piece into their hierarchy of categories. So, they created a brand new category – Fete galante. Fete Galante was a type of outdoor entertainment for rich people. It basically meant rich people doing rich things. (You’re kidding right? No, no I’m not). And so, this decision really ushered in the Rococo Art Movement.

The Rise and Fall Rococo

Birthed in France’s fertile soil of aristocracy and The Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, the Rococo Art movement spread throughout Europe. Rococo’s themes of flamboyance, wealth, and fun had less religious themes than previous periods. The art depicted wealthy people doing wealthy things (fete galante), and enjoying plenty of romantic escapades. (For more on that, just study The Swing by Fragonard.)

But Rococo didn’t last very long. Following Rococo was Neoclassicism and the Enlightenment. This was a time for showing moral behavior. During these movements following Rococo, humans were at their most noble behavior, truly concerned about the human condition. So with all their fun, maybe they didn’t find how to live a happy life after all?