The Stolen Kiss Analysis

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During the Rococo period, Jean- Honore Fragonard painted many important and beautiful paintings. Two very interesting pieces were “The Swing” and “The Stolen Kiss” both were painted by Jean-Honore Fragonard. Fragonard was a French painter during the Rococo period, he produces more than 550 paintings. “The Rococo movement was an art movement that emerged in France and spread throughout the world in the late 17th and early 18th century. The word is a derivative of the French term rocaille, which means “rock and shell garden ornamentation”” (Savanah Cox, 2011). “The Swing” and “The Stolen Kiss” are both playful, loving, and witty themed. “The Swing,” (1767) was also referred to as Happy Accidents of the Swing was painted for a French Libertine Baron de St. Julien. It was a portrait portraying his mistress he gave specific directions on how he wanted this piece of art, “I desire that you should paint Madame (indicating his mistress) on a swing which is being set in motion by a Bishop. You must place me where I can …show more content…

This painting is supposed to portray two teen lovers “The painting captures a perfectly frozen moment in time; two lovers caught by the spectator in the act of stealing a furtive kiss while no-one else is looking,” (Artble, 2016). The flirtatious young maiden is leaning in for a kiss while simultaneously looking back towards the party to ensure no-one is looking. The maiden was painted with such fashion and detail in her outfit. The main focus of the painting is the women and her facial expressions discerning the illicit action. Starting by glancing at the two lovers while they share a kiss, her beautiful dress catches the viewer’s eyes and wonder downward in a diagonal line. Following the direction of her dress, making a discovery of people in a shadowed room in the painting shows that they have ran off for their private moment