Comedy

Pierre Charles Trémolières painted this allegory of Comedy around 1736, during his time as a pensionnaire at the French Academy in Rome. Trémolières was a promising Rococo painter who won the Prix de Rome in 1726 but died young at 36, cutting short a career that showed great promise. The subject reflects the theatrical culture of eighteenth-century France, where allegorical representations of the arts were popular decorative themes.

Trémolières employs the light, luminous palette and graceful figural style characteristic of French Rococo painting. The fluid brushwork and pastel-like tonality show the influence of François Lemoyne, his teacher, combined with the classical forms absorbed during his Roman sojourn.