Rococo

Antoine Watteau

Mezzetin

c. 1718–20

Oil on canvas, 21 3/4 × 17 in. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A comic character sings a love song to no one; the serenade, not the joke, is the subject.

Look at

• The body twists in a spiral — knees one way, guitar across, head thrown back — one long curve against the straight bench and wall.
• The pink, blue and white stripes are laid in with a small quick brush, each stroke left visible.
• A grey statue of a woman turns her back in the garden behind him, and the dark trees close round the one lit figure.

• Paris audiences knew the character well from the stage; as a subject for a painting he was Watteau's novelty.
• Bought by the Met with the Munsey Fund in 1934; the Met calls the touch in hands and clothing exceptionally well preserved.

Commedia dell'arte

Italian improvised comedy built on fixed, often masked, stock characters.

Image: Wikimedia Commons · Public domain