The Swing, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) was an 18^th century French painter best known for his works in the Rococo style, although he later turned his attention to Neoclassicism. Rococo was a reaction to the formalism of Baroque, and was typified by excessive ornament and an emphasis on lightness, playfulness and intimacy. “The Swing”, painted in 1767, is often referred to as a prime example of French Rococo, and with good reason.

The painting features a young woman, wearing a florid pink dress, who is being pushed on a garden swing that is suspended from the branches of a tree. Unseen by the woman’s husband, who is doing the pushing, is his much younger rival for the woman’s attentions, who is half-hidden in the garden shrubbery but who has an excellent view of the woman’s legs as her skirts are thrown up by the motion of the swing. The painting is therefore highly frivolous and suggestive, which is one reason why it has been thought to be typical of the low morals and lack of seriousness displayed by the upper classes in pre-Revolutionary France.

The painting was commissioned by the Baron de Saint-Julien, who wanted a portrait of himself at play with his young mistress. He is therefore the lover in the bushes. His original brief was for the swing to be pushed by a bishop. The first artist he approached was shocked by the proposal and refused to take on the commission. The suggestion was also too much for Fragonard, but he persuaded the Baron to allow him to substitute the woman’s cuckolded husband for the bishop!

Although the “bishop” suggestion might sound like taking frivolity into the realms of sacrilege, it should be pointed out that the Baron wanted the painting for his own amusement rather than public display, and the fact that he held an important position within the French Church establishment (he was “Receiver General” of the clergy) is an indication that the idea was a private joke.

It is clear that Fragonard entered into the spirit of the commission in that the composition of the painting, and its details, all contribute to the sense of fun and flirtatiousness that is its essence. There is also a considerable amount of symbolism in the painting.

The swing is itself a symbol of inconstancy. The woman is swinging towards her lover, but she will soon swing back towards her husband. Where will she end up? She always has her back to her husband but her face towards her lover, so her intention seems clear enough.

She smiles coquettishly at her lover as she throws her legs up to give him a better view, but a statue of Cupid has a finger to its lips as if to warn her not to laugh and give the game away. Two other small statues, of “putti” who are traditional attenders on Venus the goddess of love, look on admiringly.

A shaft of sunlight catches the woman and throws light on her bright pink and white dress while everything else is in shadow. The husband is definitely “in the dark” in more ways than one. One of the woman’s shoes is flying off her foot, for her lover to catch. The Baron’s arm points straight up between her legs, in a gesture that must surely have a sexual significance.

All in all, this is a very naughty painting that must have delighted the Baron when he took possession of it. It may not have been intended for public consumption, but, now that it is a public work, it provides a fitting commentary on the mores of the age during which it was composed. The modern viewer knows that the world it shows would collapse in spectacular fashion some twenty years or so after it was painted, and we also have the knowledge that the world outside this garden, for those without wealth and privilege, was nothing like as carefree and frivolous.

However, the modern viewer might also take a measure of delight in the happiness displayed by the scene. Even the husband has a smile on his face, being contentedly ignorant of what is going on out of his sight.

“The Swing” is an oil painting on canvas, measuring 83x66 centimetres (32x26 inches). It is on display at the Wallace Collection in London.

© John Welford