Allegory of Lyric Poetry

Allegory of Lyric Poetry

Allegory of Lyric Poetry

Artist:François Boucher (French, Paris 1703–1770 Paris) and Workshop
Date:1753
Medium:Oil on canvas
Dimensions:Irregular, 45 1/4 x 62 3/4 in. (114.9 x 159.4 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1969

Catalogue Entry
Carved and gilded surrounds were supplied by Alavoine, Paris, in 1969, to be installed over the two original pairs of doors in The Met’s room from the hôtel de Varengeville (63.228.1). They were fitted with a pair of overdoors contemporary with the woodwork and acquired that same year. Each painting is signed and dated by Boucher in 1753 and ascribed to the artist with the assistance of his workshop. Their sizes and shapes are the same, but their subjects, allegories of autumn (69.155.1) and lyric poetry (69.155.2), are unrelated. In this picture the central cupid holds a lyre, symbol of lyric poetry. The torch, quiver of arrows, wreath of roses, and pair of doves are all appropriate to a poetic theme. A related composition is the undated etching La Poésie, or Poetry, from the series Livre des Arts after Boucher by Louis Félix de La Rue (French, 1730–1777).

Katharine Baetjer 2011

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