Chardin for but a few months, and Boucher for two years, were the
masters who taught Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) before, having
gained the Prix de Rome in 1752 and worked three years under Van Loo,
he set out for Rome, where under Natoire’s guidance he applied himself
to the copying of old masters. More important for the formation of
his style were the sketches he made in the company of his friend
Hubert Robert in the romantic gardens of the Villa d’Este, and the
deep impression created upon his mind by Tiepolo’s decorative
paintings in Venice, which city he visited before his return to Paris
in 1761. He scored his first great success in 1765 with the large and
still somewhat academic composition _Coresus and Calirrhoë_ (No. 290),
which was bought by Louis XV. for 24,000 livres for reproduction at his
tapestry works.
[Illustration:
PLATE XLI.—JEAN-BAPTISTE SIMÉON CHARDIN
(1699-1779)