The Goddess Aurora triumphing Over Night 

Jean-Honoré Fragonard's "The Goddess Aurora Triumphing Over Night" is painted in oil on canvas, a traditional medium but used here with remarkable freedom. Fragonard's brushstrokes are not trying to mimic reality, but rather to give us its essence. Look at the billowing clouds; they are built from many thin layers of paint, almost like spun sugar. Fragonard was known for his speed and virtuosity, and his work captured the Rococo era's delight in luxury and pleasure, its embrace of lighthearted subjects. It represents the high skill of French painters, who prided themselves on their ability to create illusions with paint. But the painting is also of its time. Rococo art, with its emphasis on beauty and refinement, was bankrolled by an elite, and stood in contrast to the lives of most people. As we admire Fragonard's skill with his materials, we can also reflect on the social context that made such art possible. The canvas itself, the pigments—all of these were commodities, available because of a particular economic system.