Jean-Honore
Fragonard was a painter in the 18th Century. Being good friends with
a fellow painter Hubert Robert, they set out to tour Italy. This trip heavily influences
Fragonard’s paintings by presenting him with some of the most beautiful
scenery. His brushstroke is in imitation of Rembrandt, loose and vigorous.
Italy is a
place of enchantment, filled with beautiful vistas and gorgeous villas. Ideally
romantic, one can journey there by looking at Fragonard’s paintings. Looking at
the bridge with the ample foliage climbing up to it, one can readily imagine it
to be the meeting place of two lovers in secret, like Romeo and Juliet. Or one
can imagine the mystic wonder of a solitary thinker standing on the bridge
beholding the natural spectacle of God’s creation. One is truly transported by
Fragonard’s depictive paintings.
