French school; second third of the XVIII century.

French school; second third of the XVIII century.
"Gallant scene".
Oil on canvas. Relined.
It has a XIX century frame with faults.
Measurements: 79 x 114 cm; 113 x 149 cm (frame).
The present work shows an idealized landscape with a series of vegetation that make us think of a pastoral scene, if it were not for the attitude of the main characters. Displaced from the rigorous center of the composition, two couples can be observed, one seated and the other standing. Although they do not seem to be related to each other, they all pay attention to the activity in which they participate. From their attitudes and attributes it can be deduced that they are hunting birds, an exercise that can have a double reading that oscillates from the most innocent vision, to a theme linked to love and relationships. Therefore we see in this canvas a scene of love theme, set in the eighteenth century, worked with great attention to detail, a strong descriptive spirit and a special care of the play of light and the qualities of the fabrics, following the masters of that century. This type of scenes, with a gallant and hedonistic theme, cheerful and colorful, worked with a precious and descriptive workmanship, were frequent during the second half of the 19th century, within the context of historicism. They belong to the genre called "de casacones" in Spain, and "tableautin" in France, characterized by works inspired by an idealized past, frequently from the 17th and 18th centuries, normally of small or medium format and destined to an eminently bourgeois clientele. One of the first examples of this genre is "Il Contino", by Mariano Fortuny, dated 1861 and preserved in the National Museum of Art of Catalonia.
Aesthetically, the imprint of François Boucher can be appreciated in the importance of the drawing, very precise, mainly in the faces, but also in the construction of space, in the folds of the canvases, etc. These are beautiful and delicate faces, very much in the classical style, which have as a reference the feminine ideal of the great classicists of the past, especially Correggio, one of the great influences of the French school of the 18th century. These painters learned from him the faces of serene beauty and the elegant and graceful attitudes.