Are They Thinking about the Grape? (Pensent-ils au raisin?)

This painting is based on a 1745 pantomime about a young shepherd’s awakening love for a shepherdess. The couple feed each other grapes—a fruit associated with Bacchus, god of pleasure—suggesting that their encounter is not entirely chaste. François Boucher’s compositions on pastoral themes are his most influential contribution to 18th-century French art.