Fragonard: The Grand Cascade at Trivoli

Jean-Honore Fragonard was a painter in the 18^th 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.