The Musicians
by PATER, Jean Baptiste Joseph, Oil on panel, 23 x 32 cm
In the small fêtte galantes, the present panel and its companion piece of the same size, Picking Roses, elegantly clad figures lounge about in lush landscapes, with seemingly no cares, playing music, picking flowers, and flirting with one another. Jean-Antoine Watteau, Pater’s teacher, created this genre and Pater successfully continued the tradition.