Angelica and Medoro
François Boucher, 1763
About this artwork
François Boucher, the quintessential Rococo master and favorite artist of Louis XV, captures a tender, sensual moment in *Angelica and Medoro*1763). Drawing from Ludovico Ariosto's poem *Orlando Furioso*, painting depicts the Saracen princess Angelica and her lover Medoro in an intimate embrace amid a lush, idyllic landscape. This oval oil on canvas, measuring 26¼ x 22⅛ inches, exemplifies Boucher's flair for mythological romance, blending eroticism with playful fantasy—evident in the female nude and frolicsome putti (chubby cupids) that tag this work. Boucher's virtuoso technique shines through his feather-light brushwork, soft pastel hues, and shimmering highlights that evoke the movement of silk and skin. The oval format, popular in 18th-century French decorative arts, lends an intimate, jewel-like quality, as if framing a whispered secret from aristocratic boudoirs. Created at the height of Rococo exuberance, just before Neoclassicism's austere rise, it reflects the era's celebration of pleasure and escapism amid Enlightenment tensions. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's European Paintings department via The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection (1982), this gem invites visitors to savor Boucher's world of voluptuous delight and literary whimsy.