L’Amour à l’affût 

Louis-Jean-François Lagrenée painted ‘L’Amour à l’affût’ with oils, a time-honored medium connecting this artwork to centuries of European painting traditions. Lagrenée’s method involves layering thin glazes of pigment, each layer influencing the color and luminosity of the ones beneath, a labor-intensive technique demanding a high degree of skill and patience. The artist would have ground his own pigments, mixing them with linseed oil to achieve the desired consistency before applying them meticulously to a prepared canvas. The smooth, almost porcelain-like finish of the painting speaks to a culture of refinement and luxury, emblematic of the French court. The classical subject matter, rendered with such care, reflects the social values of the elite, where patronage of the arts was both a status symbol and an expression of cultural authority. Understanding the material and methods behind this artwork helps us to appreciate the social context in which it was made, and the values it embodies.