This scene is built on a large diagonal, on one side of which is the wooden house and the two figures, on the other side the river, the foliage and the sky.
It is the evocation of an idealized country world that F. Boucher wants to show us, he creates the gallant model of the couple of richly dressed shepherds in a bucolic setting.
This tapestry is representative of a work with an ornamental role. It is in the spirit of the rocaille style, fantasy of curved lines, asymmetry, light colours and decorative profusion.
The paradoxical character of these salon pastorals, combining sophisticated elegance and spontaneity, must be emphasised. Nature is skilfully disordered and the pose of the shepherdess and the shepherd is of a studied negligence. Rocaille art introduces naturalness into art by infusing it with the fantasy and disorder of life.
Wool and silk 19th century
