Study for “The Romancer” c. 1716

Jean-Antoine Watteau made this drawing, called "Study for ‘The Romancer’", in France sometime around the early 18th century. It’s a preparatory sketch, rapidly executed in red chalk. Watteau was deeply influenced by the theater. Here, we see figures who seem to be enacting a scene, their gestures broad and expressive. But the real question is: what scene? Watteau leaves us guessing, and this ambiguity was very much in tune with the aristocratic culture of his time. Courtiers at Versailles loved to play at pastoral fantasies, and Watteau’s art offered them an idealized vision of love and leisure. But Watteau’s art also hints at the artificiality of these courtly games, at the way that social roles and rituals can become empty performances. To understand Watteau fully, we need to consult period sources, such as theater reviews, costume books, and etiquette manuals. Only then can we begin to grasp the complex social meanings embedded in his seemingly lighthearted art.