Yeah so this painting looks innocent enough, look at these pastel colors, the cheeks of the characters that look like dolls, the little angels everywhere, the flowers and plants... The lady being on a swing might fool you too, since today they're considered child's play.
But they used to be made for courtiers, elegant men and noble ladies. It's a very enjoyable way to pass time -and I will die mad that there are no public swings for adults anymore-, and as an added bonus skirts flow freely in the breeze, which is something of which the young man in the painting took good notice.
This is in fact the guy who ordered the painting, and the woman is his mistress. He asked the painter to "show some legs, or if you want to make it lighter, you can show more". And I mean, look at the shape of that skirt and seat. The painter, Fragonard, was a specialist of these seemingly innocent, yet actually libertine pictures. (omg we can see her ankles, so erotic)
But they used to be made for courtiers, elegant men and noble ladies. It's a very enjoyable way to pass time -and I will die mad that there are no public swings for adults anymore-, and as an added bonus skirts flow freely in the breeze, which is something of which the young man in the painting took good notice.
This is in fact the guy who ordered the painting, and the woman is his mistress. He asked the painter to "show some legs, or if you want to make it lighter, you can show more". And I mean, look at the shape of that skirt and seat. The painter, Fragonard, was a specialist of these seemingly innocent, yet actually libertine pictures. (omg we can see her ankles, so erotic)
Imagine cuckoldery still being seen 252 years later.
Thanks to the typically innocent and brightly happy elements I mentioned above though, that are absolutely typical of the rococo movement, it's easy to miss this aspect, and many didn't know this when they saw a reference to it in Frozen.
https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/MV_7i.Bnqp2qsQ_5bz30SQ--~A/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjtzbT0xO3c9MTI4MDtoPTk2MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/homerun/feed_manager_auto_publish_494/8447ac992fd40523a97981bbf6b7ef93