Italian Interior by Fragonard in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2011

Italian Interior, ca. 1760
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732–1806)
Oil on canvas
19 1/4 x 23 3/8 in. (48.9 x 59.4 cm)
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1946 (46.30)

This is one of two genre scenes with similar subjects dating to about 1760, toward the end of Fragonard's first Italian trip or shortly after his return to France. These impetuous pictures fall between the usual stages of preparatory sketch and finished work. The surface here has suffered, but the central figure group is intact. Fragonard painted the chaotic domestic interior with warmth and feeling.


Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/46.30