The Swing

A young woman in a billowing pink dress sails high on a swing, kicking off a slipper, while in the shadows an elderly man works the ropes, unaware that her lover lies hidden in the bushes below, gazing up beneath her flying skirts. Fragonard turns this sly erotic conceit into a froth of leaves, lace, and golden light, the very emblem of Rococo wit and naughtiness. Now in the Wallace Collection, the Swing is his most famous painting - a teasing, sparkling comedy of desire, secrecy, and flirtation in a sunlit garden.