On the First Day of Love, My True Love....

Bonjour! Welcome (back?) to The Art of Love, a light-hearted, winter-defying countdown to Valentine’s Day, using bcc this year for privacy. The Stolen Kiss (1787) is not a bad place to start, from that Rococo master, Jean-Honoré Fragonard—and perhaps also his sister-in-law and apprentice, Marguerite Gérard, collaborating. A young lady appears to have left her company for a secret meeting. Love will always find a way? The luxurious silk and folds of her dress, the flowered rug, the shawl draped across the chair, only underline the voluptuousness of the scene. The diagonal composition is always dramatic. Is he already unbuttoning his shirt? 
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