A Fountain with Three Putti Trapping a Swan

Sporting around a fantastical fountain, three infants tame a wild swan by trapping it with a flower garland. This overdoor painting, in its original frame, demonstrates how Jacques de Lajoue II incorporated a witty quotation from Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel into a light-hearted scheme.

This overdoor and its companion of two putti and an infant fawn taming a lioness (acc. no. 2833.1) may have originally been paired with two other works. Lajoue painted many overdoor paintings in series of fours showing different themes. There are two related paintings of putti with a sheep and an ostrich, although these seem to be of an earlier date and of a higher quality. There is also a slightly smaller painting by Lajoue in the Musée des beaux-arts, Dole (CH 495) which shows a group of putti carousing around a fountain of Bacchus whilst being approached by a bear.

The putti and swan in this painting are depicted in shades of grey (grisaille) which makes the central motif appear as a fantastical stone fountain with elaborate sculptures. The infants manage to subdue the swan, flexing its powerful wings, with only the help of flower garlands. The theme may relate to the power of Love over all although none of the putti have Cupid's attributes. Lajoue may have had in mind the tradition of showing young children engaged in adult activity, often in a mythological setting, which was developed by Titian as well as French 17th-century painters. It has also been suggested that the painting is an allegory of water, an appropriate theme for a dining room.

Jacques de Lajoue II was one of the foremost painters of the 1730s and 1740s, a period when the style known as 'rococo' dominated Parisian interior decoration. He made many overdoors for aristocratic town houses as well as producing ornamental designs for cartouches, trophies, vases, furniture and ornaments which were engraved in several collections. He also designed stage sets and firework displays. His work is characterised by his use of architectural and garden fantasies, theatrical illusionism and a self-conscious use of perspective. In this work, the distinctive rock arch in the background is reminiscent of Lajoue's fantastical landscapes and gardens. Many of Lajoue's patrons were deeply interested in Natural History, including fossils and shells, and displayed such items in their homes. The rocks and shells incorporated into this scene would have chimed with such interests, as well as being indicative of the 'rococo' style.

The pose of the putto on the right, sitting on top of a basket trap, is based on Michelangelo's prophet Jonah, from the Sistine Chapel ceiling. The pose is reversed suggesting Lajoue studied it from a print.

Phillippa Plock, 2011