"The Swing" (1767) by Jean-Honore Fragonard

                            "The Swing" (1767) by Jean-Honore Fragonard

                                            Written by Dipanjan Kundu

"The Swing" is an instantiation of a typical Rococo art by Fragonard who moved away from the Baroque art in his early career. The painting was occasioned by a commision Gabriel Doyen chanced upon from a courtier who fancied himself hidden in bush and his mistress on a swing which would be rocked by a bishop. The frivolity of the proposal let Doyen pass it on to Fragonard. Having perceived attentively, you will experience nature in its abundance and fertility, conducive to the sensuality of the picture. Limned with the brushstrokes of pastel pink and green, the painting adumbrates the charming young lady on a swing, made of red velvet, laced with golden ribbons. The swing is rocked by an old fellow, hoodwinked by the pair, though his figure is reduced to unimportance by thrusting him into a darkened background. The conspiring lover in the left lower corner is mischievously eyeing and pointing at her, who has flirtatiously parted her legs. Her visible stocking symbolizes the intrinsic sexuality in the painting. Again, her flying slipper, the tightly held ropes, and, above all, the diagonality in the painting accrue the sense of motion and energy. The subtle application of sculptures reinforces the appeal to furtive eroticism. Behind the male lover, the statue of Cupid hushing the yapping dog in the right lower corner, the relief carvings of nymphs dancing, and behind the lady, a pair of putti cuddling each other - all these entities augment the amorous lush and exuberance in the delineation. Such hedonistic and pleasuristic pursuits characterize the concurrent French aristocracy, against which the Enlightenment philosophers, like Rousseau, Voltaire, and Diderot rally up.

Fragonard's "The Swing" has been studied from multifarious perspectives, as it is ingenuously informed by numerous profound nuances. One such study is the substrative reflection of ambiguity, sexuality, and gender roles in the then French aristocratic society. The painting features three human beings, geometrically situated in a triangular dimension. More appropriately, it adumbrates a love triangle, the centre of which is revolving around the lady. Having kept the old husband in darkness, the woman covertly and connivingly continues her liaison with the young lover, hidden but highlighted in the bush. The swing metaphorizes her relational ambiguity where she is swinging from one man to another. The sexual penchant behind this adultery is reinforced by her act of parting legs and letting the young male into her physical (and also emotional) private space. Again, another noteworthy fact is that there are two dogs present in the picture. There is a black dog in the right side of Cupid's sculpture. This dog is not barking, unlike the yapping, joyful white dog. The presence of dogs impinges upon the matrix of faithfulness and loyalty which are visibly breached by the female. The merry white dog can be associated with the amused lady, enjoying abundant freedom, while the black dog is standing sternly and gloomily, darkened into the background just like the husband behind. The lady's strong hold over two ropes stands for her impeccable rein over the two males by dint of her beauty and sexuality. However, the picture revels in the joie de vivre of effusive youth, inhibited pleasure pursuits, and hedonistic indulgences.