Allegory of Vigilance
ca. 1772
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Oval, 27 1/8 x 21 5/8 in. (68.9 x 54.9 cm)
Classification
Paintings
Department
European Paintings
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of René Fribourg, 1953
Accession Number
53.161
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jean Honoré Fragonard's *Allegory of Vigilance (ca. 1772) is a captivating oil on canvas painting, measuring 27 1/8 x 21 5/8 inches in an intimate oval format. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Paintings department, this exemplifies the artist's mastery of Rococo style, characterized by its playful elegance, soft lighting, and sensual forms. The composition likely features a female nude in profile, engaged in reading—a motif that blends introspection with allure, symbolizing vigilance as watchful awareness amid leisure. Created during the late Rococo period in 18th-century F...
About the Artist
Jean Honoré Fragonard · 1732–1806
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was a French painter and printmaker whose late Rococo manner was distinguished by remarkable facility, exuberance, and hedonism. Born in Grasse, he moved to Paris where he trained under Jean-Baptiste Chardin and François Boucher, winning the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1752. After studying in Italy alongside Hubert Robert, Fragonard returned to Paris in 1761 to fi...