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artist or maker

Lancret, Nicolas (b.1690, d.1743)

Date

1734

Place of production

Paris, France

Medium

oil on panel

Type of object

paintings

Accession number

Oil on panel painting of a scene from an Italian Comedy, enacted in a park landscape. The two central figures are dressed as Commedia dell'Arte characters. One figure wears a black comic theatre mask, with a multi-coloured Harlequin cosume, the other figure, with the distinctive paunch of Punch, has no mask, and wears a mustard yellow costume trimmed with blue and red and a tall hat. Both figures stand in dramatic poses. They are performing in a small open space, enclosed by a curved wall with Vermiculated (French) Rustication. To the left of the scene there is a flight of steps and a large curved stone plinth. There is a flute player and a bagpipe player sat on top of the plinth. In front of the plinth, there are two seated ladies; another, possibly Columbine, stands with arms outstretched, addressing a girl and a boy. Behind the plinth, there is a further group of spectators, seven women and four men, some standing, but mostly seated. Two ladies and two gentleman are on the extreme right of the picture, in front of a fountain. The men are Pierrot seated on the ground, and possibly Crispin with his arms outstretched lying on the rim of the fountain. The women are possibly Silvie sitting behind Pierrot and a standing woman wearing a pink dress, black scarf on her head and holding a fan. The background of the painting is closed in with various trees, one without leaves.

A group of actors from the commedia dell'arte troupe entertain a party of fashionably dressed women and girls. The characters dance and play with their audience. The setting is a park landscape, commonly used in Nicolas Lancret's 'fête galantes'.

Commentary

Audience and actors mingle together in this work, blurring the lines between theatre and leisure. The setting is also integrated into the scene. In the centre, Punch, identifiable from his large stomach and tall hat, dances with his arms outstretched in front of his rival, the masked Harlequin. To the right, Pierrot sits before a young woman, possibly Sylvie. She looks at another actor, perhaps playing Crispin, who gesticulates theatrically. On the other side of the painting his gesture is echoed by an actress, perhaps Columbine, who entertains two young girls who appear to be part of the audience. Commedia dell'arte actors did in fact perform outside at several fairs, but Lancret provides a fantastical version of an outdoor play. The three framing gestures provide a human counterpart to the sweeping rococo staircase and wall behind the figures, creating an organic interchange between setting and performance.

The staircase is similar, though reversed, to that found in Nicolas Lancret, 'Pastoral Revels', of 1738, Wallace Collection (P478) which has been linked with the imaginary designs of Jacques Lajoüe. Such architectural elements also lend a three-dimensional presence to Lancret's scenes of fashionable parties, linking them with actual gardens particularly those at the Luxembourg Palace. These gardens were more informal in design and not so well maintained as other gardens in and around Paris. They provided ready inspiration for Lancret and other artists who painted 'fête galantes' (see Mary Tavener Holmes, Mark Leonard; Dance before a Fountain; Los Angeles; 2006). This was a type of painting that Lancret's teacher, Antoine Watteau (1684-1721), had practically invented. Groups of well-dressed revellers were depicted mingling with musicians, dancers and actors in idyllic outside settings.

Lancret painted several works with characters from the commedia dell'arte in the 1720s and 1730s, for example his 'An Italian Comedy Scene', Wallace Collection (P401), which has a similarly posed Punch. The 1730s was a particularly successful decade for Lancret; he became popular with many of the most important collectors of his day. He painted portraits of famous dancers and actors, as well as scenes of children playing, themes he combined here with the tried-and-tested 'fête galante' formula. There is a study drawing in the Pierpont Morgan Library 'Pierrot Seated on the Ground' for the figure at lower right, noted for its restrained execution and calm, rotund form of Lancret's mature style.

Phillippa Plock, 2011

Physical description

Dimensions (mm) / weight (mg)

444 x 578
425 x 567 - sight

Signature & date

signed and dated, lower centre on log: Lancret 173[4?]

Inscriptions

a redorer a l'eau
ou de leger -
Inscription
[on verso of frame, lower left, ink]

Labels

105
Label
[on verso of panel, upper left, handwritten in ink]

7539
[H192?]
Label
[on verso of panel, centre centre, label handwritten in pencil]

Small library right of door
Label
[on verso of panel and frame, two labels, handwritten in ink]

History

Provenance

Acquired by Alice de Rothschild (b.1847, d.1922) before 1906; inherited by her great-nephew James de Rothschild (b.1878, d.1957); bequeathed to Waddesdon (National Trust) in 1957.

Collection

Waddesdon (National Trust)
Bequest of James de Rothschild, 1957

Bibliography

Anita Brookner, French Pictures at Waddesdon, The Burlington Magazine, 101, 1959, 271-273; p. 273; with incorrect information that was attributed to Pater
♦; Sir Francis Watson, The Art Collections at Waddesdon Manor I: The Paintings, Apollo, 69, June 1959, 172-182; p. 182, fig. 20
Ellis Waterhouse, Anthony Blunt; Paintings: The James A. de Rothschild Collection at Waddesdon Manor; Fribourg; Office du Livre, The National Trust; 1967; p. 260, cat. no. 1991, ill.
Margaret Morgan Grasselli, Eleven New Drawings by Nicolas Lancret, Master Drawings, 3, 1985-1986, 377-89, 467-74; pp. 385-87, fig. 15

Related files

- http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=65412&viewType=detailView [accessed 8 September 2011, 'Pastoral Revels', Wallace, P478]
- http://wallacelive.wallacecollection.org/eMuseumPlus?service=ExternalInterface&module=collection&objectId=65412&viewType=detailView [accessed 8 September 2011, 'Pastoral Revels', Wallace, P478]

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