Thomas Stothard’s San Souci is a picnic in the style of the fête galante associated with Jean-Antoine Watteau.
Couples dressed in 17th-century clothing enjoy their leisure in varying poses of elegant courting. The foreground includes a picnic cloth with food and wine. It alludes to Boccaccio’s “The Tale of the Bird-Cage” in The Decameron.
The Sanssouci Palace and its gardens were built by Frederick the Great in Potsdam, Germany. The name has long since been associated with luxury. In French, Sans-Souci means carefree.
Featured Image: Thomas Stothard. San Souci (1817)
J.M.W. Turner’s A Bird-Cage (1828) is a copy of his inimitable style.