# Spring

**Jean-Baptiste Pater** (French, 1695–1736)  
c. 1720–36  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 76.5 x 66 x 9 cm (30 1/8 x 26 x 3 9/16 in.); Unframed: 65 x 53.7 cm (25 9/16 x 21 1/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1951.486. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1951.486).

## About this work

Spring and Summer are two scenes from a four-season series. These landscapes were originally a part of a screen or a decorative panel, indicated by their floral borders and oval shape. The setting of Spring is believed to be the grounds of Montmorency, the country estate of Pierre Crozat (1665–1740), a wealthy financier and art collector in early eighteenth-century Paris. Summer counters Spring 's aristocratic leisure by depicting rural labor. Befitting the work's decorative origins, however, Pater's scene belongs to the tradition of the timeless pastoral. More idyllic than a statement about class differences, the reapers peacefully gather sheaves of wheat as shepherds rest with their flocks in the foreground.

_Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art._

Jean-Baptiste Pater painted this in about 1720–36, aged about 20. It is now at the Cleveland Museum 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-Baptiste Pater](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jean-baptiste-pater)

French, 1695–1736

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: France
- The artist was about 20
- Real size: about 26 × 21 in (65 × 54 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 18th century
- Colour: olive
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/594.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/594/1920.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
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

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/spring-cma-128877).