Le Berger Recompensé (The Rewarded Shepherd) 1734 - 1797

René Gaillard created this engraving, The Rewarded Shepherd, sometime in the mid-18th century. It presents an ideal of pastoral life, a theme that was extremely popular in France during the reign of Louis XV. The image is composed of a reclining shepherd playing music for a well-dressed woman, with livestock in the background. It offers a romantic vision of rural life that bears little resemblance to the harsh realities of agricultural labor at that time. The print was dedicated to an aristocratic woman, suggesting that its intended audience was the French elite. Aristocrats often idealized simple country life. The engraving catered to that taste, offering a pleasing fantasy that helped to obscure the social inequalities of the time. To fully understand such images, historians consult sources ranging from estate records to philosophical treatises. These resources help us understand the social conditions that shaped the production and reception of art. We can then consider the public role of art and the politics of imagery.