Pilgrimage to Cythera by Watteau: Meaning & Story

Q: Where is Pilgrimage to Cythera displayed?

The original 1717 version is at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Watteau painted a second version around 1718-19 that's now in Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace.

Q: What is a fête galante?

The French Academy created this term specifically for Watteau's painting. It describes scenes of elegant aristocrats enjoying outdoor amusements, and became synonymous with Rococo art.

Q: What movement does this painting represent?

It's a founding work of the Rococo style, which favored lighter colors, playful subjects, and decorative elegance over the serious themes of Baroque painting.

Q: What does Cythera symbolize?

In Greek mythology, Cythera was the island where Aphrodite was born or first landed. The painting uses it as a symbol of romantic love, with couples either arriving at or departing from this mythical paradise.

Jean-Antoine Watteau painted this scene of aristocratic romance in 1717, showing elegantly dressed couples preparing to depart from or arriving at the island of Cythera. In Greek mythology, Cythera was sacred to Aphrodite, goddess of love. Cupids flutter through the air, pushing lovers together.

The painting caused problems for the French Academy. Watteau had been accepted as a member in 1714 but kept delaying his required reception piece. When he finally delivered this work in 1717, the Academy invented a new category for it: the fête galante, or elegant outdoor entertainment.

This new genre captured something distinct about early 18th-century France. After the somber final years of Louis XIV's reign, the aristocracy embraced pleasure and play. Watteau painted a second version around 1718-19, now in Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin. The original remains at the Louvre.

The original 1717 version is at the Louvre Museum in Paris. Watteau painted a second version around 1718-19 that's now in Berlin's Charlottenburg Palace.

The French Academy created this term specifically for Watteau's painting. It describes scenes of elegant aristocrats enjoying outdoor amusements, and became synonymous with Rococo art.

It's a founding work of the Rococo style, which favored lighter colors, playful subjects, and decorative elegance over the serious themes of Baroque painting.

In Greek mythology, Cythera was the island where Aphrodite was born or first landed. The painting uses it as a symbol of romantic love, with couples either arriving at or departing from this mythical paradise.

Pilgrimage to Cythera

Details

Where to See It

The Artist

More by Jean-Antoine Watteau

Faun

The Foursome

The Monkey Sculptor

Study of a Woman's Head

Also at Louvre, Paris

Artemis of Versailles

The Concert: Singer and Theorbo Player

The Combat of Mars and Minerva

Madonna and Sleeping Child with Three Angels

Related Rococo Works

The Blue Boy

The Swing

Mrs. Richard Brinsley Sheridan

A Young Girl Reading

Reclining Girl

Diana Leaving the Bath

Portrait of Omai

Self-Portrait in a Straw Hat

About Pilgrimage to Cythera

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