The Embarkation for Cythera
Embarkation for Cythera (French Pèlerinage à l' île de Cythère ) is the title of three paintings by the French artist Jean -Antoine Watteau. The oldest and smallest version was developed in 1710 and is in the Städel, Frankfurt am Main. Seven years later another version, which is probably the best known. It is now in the Louvre in Paris and was established in 1717 as a late work of Watteau to admission into the French Academy. The latest and greatest version, which was created in 1717 or 1718, is located in Charlottenburg, Berlin Schloss. With these so-called " Fêtes Gallant " Watteau paintings created a new pictorial tradition in which Rubens and, in particular, whose paintings Garden of Love were the model. Watteau reasoned with them, however, a pictorial tradition of the representation of social life in the garden, which was formative to the Impressionists.
Image content
All three paintings show a high society young people who are gathered on a stage at a bank. They seem to wait; a recognizable common action does not exist. Jean -Antoine Watteau drew its excitation of the comedy The three cousins of Florence Dancourt, which premiered in 1700 in Paris. The verses to which the image refers are:
In the oldest version of three young women standing in bright robes at the center. All three keep looking down, the average tempts the others to go with him to the ship, with the assistance of a young man. The Wedding god Hymen, holding a torch in his left hand, hovering in the sky and in the left half expect cupids court society. More in the foreground is a couple who has turned his back to the viewer. He has a friendly gesture on the left waiting ship and seems the group of young women who still hesitate to ask to go with there.
The Paris and Berlin version are very similar. On these two version is found in the center a yellow dressed woman looks back longingly, while her companion urges to leave lying ready to ship. Both paintings show right on a slightly elevated lying grove a statue of the goddess of love, Venus. At the Paris version of the rosenumkränzte statue is rigid and straight. At the Berlin version squirm cupids a rose garland around the statue, which is shown here clearly moving. This statue can be found almost identical Antoine Watteau painting on The Love Fest in the year 1717.
In all three paintings can be found in the background, as indicated in part only very weak, the island of Cythera, a Greek island off the southeast tip of the Peloponnese. It is the place to be increased at the Venus according to legend, from the foam of the sea on land. At precisely this point, many lovers have gathered.
Background
The island of Cythera was in the 18th century as a kingdom of love, far from all conflicts. Watteau had already dealt with the subject of a long time and only recently filed a pilgrimage to the island of Kythera at the Academy in Paris. It is therefore debatable whether perhaps not leaving the island of Kythera is shown here. This is also the longing backward-looking head of the woman in the center.
Norbert Elias has Watteau's Pilgrimage to the Island of Love explained in detail in his essay of the history of the painting. The image inspired Francis Poulenc to compose the same Valse Musette. An explicit reference to the island of love and there undisturbed togetherness is still found in Auguste Renoir.