The Swing

This juicy artwork by the painter Fragonard has become the emblematic painting of the Rococo. Painted in 1767, The Swing offers a bucolic and sensual scene with all the bawdy ingredients necessary for scandal. Under the eye of Cupid, a pretty young woman (the mistress) coquettishly exposes herself on a swing, pushed by an older man (the cuckolded husband). A young man (the lover), hidden in the bushes, observes (the beauty’s thigh and perhaps more) with admiration and desire. The pastel colors, the play of light and the luxuriant details of the garden accentuate the frivolous and sensual atmosphere and capture the hedonistic spirit of the time.