The Swing

The Swing is among the most celebrated masterpieces of the Rococo era and Fragonard’s best-known painting. It depicts an elegantly dressed young woman soaring on a swing, while a smiling young man concealed in the bushes gestures toward her billowing dress, and an older man, nearly hidden in shadow, propels the swing from the right. With its playful, flirtatious mood, lush pastel palette, and extravagant fashions, the painting captures the lighthearted elegance and sensuality of Rococo style.

A courtier, likely Baron Louis-Guillaume Baillet de Saint-Julien, commissioned the painting from Fragonard around 1767, after an initial request to Gabriel-François Doyen was rejected as too scandalous. After passing through private collections in the 18th and 19th centuries, the 4th Marquess of Hertford acquired The Swing in 1865. After Lord Hertford died in 1870, his collection passed to Sir Richard Wallace. In 1897, Lady Wallace bequeathed her house and art collection to the British nation. The Swing remains on permanent display at the Wallace Collection in London today.