Landscape, from a series of six landscapes dedicated to Madame La Marquise de Pompadour 1720 - 1762

Quentin Pierre Chedel made this landscape print, part of a series of six, dedicated to Madame la Marquise de Pompadour. Prints like these circulated among the elites of 18th-century France, reflecting both their aesthetic tastes and social hierarchies. Landscape imagery, while seemingly benign, often served as a backdrop for projecting power and status. Note how the figures are neatly arranged and are dwarfed by the landscape, and how the ‘everydayness’ of the scene masks the labor of those who are extracting resources. This idyllic image papers over complex social and economic realities, such as gender and class divisions. These landscapes highlight the artificiality of pastoral ideals and the politics embedded in representations of nature, reminding us that even seemingly innocent images can perpetuate particular worldviews.