Jean-Honoré Fragonard's Shepherdess best summarizes the tastes for frivolity and gallantry during the eighteenth century. Over the course of four decades, Fragonard produced a variety of works, including highly acclaimed public history paintings, but he preferred to paint easel-sized pictures and interior decorative works such as this for a private clientele.
The alluring shepherdess is shown awaiting her lover, a youthful shepherd who makes his way through the lush landscape. The fertile bounties of nature are demonstrated by the basket of brightly colored flowers and the garland of roses the shepherdess holds in her right hand. The fecund pastoral setting would have been readily understood in the eighteenth century as the clandestine backdrop for the passions of youthful courtship. The unshod feet of the shepherdess and the birdcage beside her further underscore the theme of an amorous encounter.
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