Today's episode takes us back to the reign of the Sun King, Louis XIV, whose court was every bit as frothy as the clouds the harvest goddess Ceres is lounging on. We find out crabs are sometimes lobsters and how a penniless young man from the outskirts of Paris named Antoine Watteau ended up scoring a big commission from one of the most powerful men in the court. And why this painting is now so rare!

If you want to follow along, find it here on the Gallery’s site

SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT BELOW)

“A Long Look” opening and closing themes are by Ron Gelinas: “Ascension” https://youtu.be/jGEdNSNkZoo and “Easy” https://youtu.be/2QGe6skVzSs

Episode theme is “Violin Concerto no. 3 in G major, K. 216” composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Performed by the NOVA Community Chorus, courtesy of musopen.org  https://musopen.org/music/2863-violin-concerto-no-3-in-g-major-k-216/

Artwork information https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.46149.html

Watteau info https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.1967.html#biography

https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/18th-century-france-the-rococo-and-watteau.html#slide_1

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antoine-Watteau/Watteaus-Cythera#ref35071

Cancer crab info https://www.britannica.com/place/Cancer-constellation

https://ima.princeton.edu/2016/06/21/junes-zodiac-sign-lobster-like-crabs/

 

For a transcript visit alonglookpodcast.com