Idylls and battles at the end of Louis XIV's reign
The portrayal of an idealized Roman campaign with ruins and shepherds, following the model created in the early 17th century by the Bril brothers in Rome has become one of the most sought-after genres of European painting, thanks to painters like Claude Lorrain and Swanevelt. Mauperché, celebrated in his own lifetime, and Patel were the most significant representatives of this type of timeless and idyllic landscape in Parisian painting of the second half of the 17th century.
Battle paintings found their greatest interpreter in the form of Van der Meulen, who records the campaigns of Louis XIV. His cold and meticulous rendering is far removed from the verve and passion of the Provençal painter, Joseph Parrocel, the only Parisian heir to the inventions of Salvator Rosa and Jacques Courtois, known as il Borgognone. Verdier, a relative and pupil of Le Brun, is relatively unknown today.
Jupiter ordering Mercury to go and release Io is one of his masterpieces. Louis Boullogne the Younger and Bon Boullogne, two brothers from a dynasty of artists, are now considered, alongside La Fosse, as the best representatives of the Versailles painters after the death of Le Brun. In the quarrel between the Poussinists and Rubenists, they appear to uphold the Flemish master, however they conserve a distinctly French quality. Their mythological scenes, situated in cheerful landscapes, announce the romantic spirit of the 18th century.
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