LEMOYNE, François
(b. 1688, Paris, d. 1737, Paris)

The Bather

c. 1725
Oil on canvas, 137 x 105 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Lemoyne created this painting during his time in Venice and Rome, and the sculptural molding of the figures and the drapes painted with bright local colours show the Italian influence. Yet the carefree eroticism, which no longer needs the justification of a mythological or biblical subject, and attention to fleeting bodily sensations make this work a typical example of the French Rococo.