Jacques Philippe Le Bas: Are They Thinking About the Grape? (18th century)

(Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA)

A nice engraving by the French artist Jacques Philippe Le Bas (1707-1783). Le Bas specialized in producing engravings after several paintings by different artists'. This one is such an example - the orginal work is by the French artist François Boucher (1703–1770), the original is now in the Art Institute Chicago. The setting is a so-called pastoral themes: visions of an 'ideal' rustic life in which shepherds and shepherdesses are engaged in different activities such as herding livestock or (in this case) amorous pursuits. Engraving from the 18th century.