Following the death of Louis XIV a general reaction occurred to offset the austerity that had characterized the final years of his rule. This change created a new sense of feeling and expression among painters of the day. More specifically, the younger painters of the time tended to pursue the direction that their own feelings and emotions would take them as opposed to the constraint and restriction of artistic freedom that had prevailed prior to this time. The patron as well began to experience a new sense of freedom that permitted them to explore the limits of their own taste and artistic passions (Faniel 11).
French painting during the eighteenth century is generally divided into two phases. The rococo, or first phase, dominates the first half of the century. The latter portion of the century is characterized by subjects and forms modeled on antiquity and by a strong reaction against the decorative excesses of the earlier style. A scholarly tradition established in the nineteenth century by the Goncourt brothers attributes to the ascendancy of women the existence of the rococo and the essence of eighteenth-century art (Spencer 242).
The seventeenth century had favored subjects such as history, religion or those associated with legend. During the eighteenth century there arose in France, a desire to experiment and produce paintings that were more in keeping with the exploration of change. To some extent the art form produced was stimulated by writers of the day, such as Rousseau. An important theme of the time was to show the love of children and the affection and appreciation of youth in general. Similarly, there was a need to create more of a light, airy demeanor to the characters portrayed and thus paintings as well. Women were certainly a part of the subject matter, but did not seem to dominate the art of the time, other than to participate as subjects in keeping with the general theme of the period. As an examp...