The Hand of Louis XV
A disembodied hand is all that remains of a once-mighty emblem of royal power.
Read More
18th-century art
The Epic Creation of a Last Masterpiece
An equestrian statue of Louis XV required 15 years of labor and 30 tons of metal.
Read More
Meet the Controversial Cupid of Eighteenth-Century France
This Cupid once decorated a king’s love nest.
Read More
Three Graduate Interns on Installing Bouchardon: Royal Artist of the Enlightenment
The high-stakes ballet of installing an art exhibition.
Read More
Edme Bouchardon’s Pocket-Sized Masterpieces
The young Edme Bouchardon sketches Rome—and himself.
Read More
A Double-Sided Drawing Brings a Baron to Life
The hidden artistry of an 18th-century pastel.
Read More
Pastels, Portraits, and Paramours
An introduction to Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard through his pastels.
Read More
The Italian Comedians Go on View in Elegant Company
The Getty Museum’s most recent painting acquisition, Jean-Antoine Watteau’s The Italian Comedians, is now on view at the Getty Center. It’s installed in Gallery... Read More
Watteau’s Serious Clown Comes to the Getty
Antoine Watteau is famous for his theatrical pictures of the 18th-century French megarich at their elegant balls and fêtes galantes. Theater of a different... Read More
A Portrait of Venice Unmasked
The life of a painting can be pretty unpredictable. Some are constantly on the move, reaching different parts of the world as they travel... Read More
Clocks and Globes – How Prosperous Parisians in the 18th Century Navigated Their Day (with Bonus Ringtone)
Enter Paris: Life & Luxury, closing this Sunday, and you’ll hear chimes pinging through the galleries from extravagant clocks that French aristocrats used to... Read More
Power Breakfast Inspired by a King: The 18th-Century Toilette
Dressing for success.
Read More