# Love as Folly

**Jean Honoré Fragonard** (French, 1732–1806)  
c. 1773/1776  
oil on canvas  
overall (oval): 56.2 x 47.3 cm (22 1/8 x 18 5/8 in.) framed: 78.7 x 62.2 x 8.3 cm (31 x 24 1/2 x 3 1/4 in.)

Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1970.17.111. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.52255.html).

## About this work

A smiling Cupid floats through the air with a flaming torch, arms flung wide, as white birds wheel around him among clouds and pink blossoms. Fragonard painted this small oval and its companion, Love the Sentinel, in the mid-1770s, when he was the most spirited painter of love in Rococo France. Here the god of love is all reckless abandon, and the torch he carries is the fire of passion. The quick, feathery brushwork and pastel palette show Fragonard at his lightest.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Jean Honoré Fragonard painted this in about 1773/1776, aged about 41. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

### What you’re looking at

This oval painting shows a cherubic child floating mid-air with one leg bent and their arms outstretched. The cherub has curly hair, a round face, and pale skin dusted with rosy pink and light teal shadows. They are smiling gently. The cherub is nude with a draped cloth over one shoulder, and in one hand they hold a flaming torch. Surrounding the cherub are white birds in flight. The background consists of pale blue and soft white clouds, with blooming pink flowers and foliage on the pale green ground.

_Description from the National Gallery of Art._

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Jean Honoré Fragonard](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jean-honore-fragonard)

French, 1732–1806; born in Grasse; died in Paris

Fragonard studied with Chardin and then Boucher, won the Prix de Rome and spent five years in Italy, where he drew the gardens of the Villa d’Este. Back in Paris he largely set aside official commissions to paint for private collectors: playful love scenes such as The Swing, rapidly brushed “fantasy figures” and luminous landscapes. The Revolution ended the taste for his art, and he spent his last years as an administrator of the new national museum at the Louvre.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- The artist was about 41
- Real size: about 22 × 19 in (56 × 47 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Subjects: emotion, Cupid, Love
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1546.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1546/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/love-as-folly-nga-52255).