How you can use this image

This image is available to be shared and re-used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (CC BY-NC-ND).

You can reproduce this image for non-commercial purposes and you are not able to change or modify it in any way.

Wherever you reproduce the image you must attribute the original creators (acknowledge the original artist(s) and the person/organisation that took the photograph of the work) and any other rights holders.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find more images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Download

More information

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

'Pour nous prouver que cette belle' to be a transitional composition, c.1716–1717, between Watteau’s 'The Concert' (c.1715–1716; Berlin, Charlottenburg) and 'Les charmes de la vie' (Watteau P410). The same seated woman in profile appears as in the former, and the same musician as in the latter, although here he plays a theorbo. The verses which accompanied Surugue’s 1719 engraving of the picture explained:
'To prove that this beauty
Finds the marriage knot sweet
The painter has shown her faithful
Following the music of her husband.
These children around her
Are the fruits of her tender love
Which this handsome student may well taste one day.'

The Wallace Collection

London

Title

Pour nous prouver que cette belle

Date

c.1717–1718

Medium

oil on pine panel with walnut strips

Measurements

H 16.1 x W 19.9 cm

Accession number

P377

Acquisition method

acquired by Richard Seymour-Conway, 4th Marquess of Hertford, 1856; bequeathed to the nation by Lady Wallace, 1897

Work type

Painting

The Wallace Collection

Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, Greater London W1U 3BN England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.

View venue

Artist or maker

Jean-Antoine Watteau

1684–1721

View profile

Le Repos Gracieux (The Graceful Rest) Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Sous un habit de Mezetin The Wallace Collection
A Lady at her Toilet The Wallace Collection
Satyr Pouring Wine The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Three Studies of Female Figures The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
The Robber of the Sparrow's Nest National Galleries of Scotland: National
L'aventuriere National Trust for Scotland, Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park
35 more