"Pilgrimage to Cythera" (1717) by Jean-Antoine Watteau

"Pilgrimage to Cythera" evinces the typical Rococo style painting through which Watteau illustrates the hedonistic and luxurious modus vivendi that the aristocrat class of the French society led. Cythera is an ancient Greek island, dedicated to the Greek goddess Venus or the Roman Aphrodite. She was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. In the painting, there stood a statue of the goddess in the right side, merged with the pastel greenery. Beside her feet there is a bow, like Cupid's, interwoven by flowery bushes. A little Cupid is sitting beside the pair of lovers, with his arrows on the ground, signifying that they are not prerequisite at this particular moment. Rather, he is tugging an edge of the apron of the coy female, as if urging her to love the man beside, as the male lover seems appealing her too. The more we would move leftward, it will be perceived that the position of the pairs is shifting, as if in a dance. They look to be more intimating and near the boat, the female is clasping her lover's arm of her own volition, without any coaxing on part of the man. In the left side of the painting, the golden prow of the boat is manifesting a nude female body, subtly being draped by a baby Cupid. The little Puti lead us to the island not far, one of whom possesses a torch to guide the lovers' boat. Even the oarsmen are ready to take the boat to the island. There are discord as to the going back or coming to the island. Is this site itself the island Cythera where the lovers passionately engage under the aegis of Venus? Or is it that vague outline in the distance to which the Puti are leading our vision? However, it's viable that Watteau consciously indulges in this ambiguity. 

Watteau was much influenced by Opera and dance elements imbued here reflect that impact. This painting was limned as a reception piece for Watteau in the Royal Academy of Art, of which the aristocracy was the primary target audience. The aristocratic class was well aware about the dance steps shown in a covert way in this picture. This painting inaugurated a new genre called fete gallante, which conveys the sense of outdoor entertainment of the aristocratic persons. But when this painting was accepted in the academy, there was no preconceived category to define it. It was so maverick that the Royal Academy of Art spawned a new category to accommodate this work. The academy was bifurcated into two groups - the aficionados of Poussin and of Reubens. Poussin believed that in painting line is the most significant, but Reubens insisted that colour is more vital than line. Observing Watteau's painting, it is obvious that he is a Reubenist. Blurring outlines and patchy colours are brimming in the work.