FRAGONARD, Jean-Honoré
(b. 1732, Grasse, d. 1806, Paris)

A Game of Hot Cockles

1775-80
Oil on canvas, 116 x 92 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington

This painting is a pendant of A Game of Horse and Rider. The pendants were meant to be installed in boiseries as part of a larger decorative program. They are equal in size and have similar colour schemes and compositions, and their subjects are complementary; each focuses on richly verdant gardens in which groups of figures have gathered to enjoy games in the outdoors.

The two games depicted in the pendants were common in Fragonard's time. Hot Cockles ("la main chaude") is a game in which sleight of hand and close attention are rewarded. One player, the "penitent," hides his face in the lap of a second (called the "confessor," a referee who monitors the game) and places his hand flat behind his back. In turn, other players slap the penitent on the hand, and he tries to identify who hit him. The player who lets himself be discovered becomes the penitent.

The game is played by elegantly dressed young adults in a formal garden, with clipped hedges, smooth parterres, potted trees, and discreetly placed sculptures.

The pendants owe a debt to Oudry, whose designs for a tapestry cycle on the theme of "Amusements champêtres" include representations of Horse and Rider and Hot Cockles that are closely related to Fragonard's compositions.




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