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The 18th century is also known as the Age of the Enlightenment. In particular the writings of the French philosophers emphasised the importance of reason as opposed to faith, and showed a new interest in how free will may be nurtured or influenced. With their ideas about the equality and freedom of humankind, they paved the way for the abolition of the aristocracy. The visual arts mirrored these new thoughts and feelings: fashions and attitudes became more relaxed, eroticism was treated with more candour, and one can sense here and there a new lightness of being. The French, who dominated European culture with their language and their court ceremonials, also produced many of the foremost painters of this era. A number of them are represented here, such as Boucher, Largillierre, Rigaud and Lancret.
Nicolas de Largillierre (Paris 1656 – 1746 Paris): Madame de Soucarières and her Page, c. 1730. Oil on canvas. Acquired in 2006 as a loan from the Kuratorium Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Museum Ludwid e.V. and the City of Cologne. WRM Dep. 853. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Vittore Ghislandi (Bergamo 1655 – 1743 Bergamo): Portrait of a Painter, 1735/1740. Oil on canvas, 100 x 75.5 cm. Acquired in 1890 as a gift from the heirs of Mr Dagobert Oppenheim. WRM 1075. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Venice 1683 – 1754 Venedig): A Walk in the Country, c. 1741/45. Oil on canvas, 196.5 x 146 cm. Acquired in 1949. WRM Dep. 2806. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
François Boucher (Paris 1703 – 1770 Paris): Resting Girl (Louise O’Murphy), 1751. Oil on canvas, 59.5 x 73.5 cm. Acquired 1941. WRM 2639. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Jean Honoré Fragonard (Grasse 1732 – 1806 Paris) and Marguerite Gérard (Grasse 1761 – 1837 Paris): The Angora Cat, c. 1783 – 85. Oil on canvas, 65 x 53.5 cm. Acquired in 2011 as a gift from the city of Cologne to mark the Museum’s sesquicentennial. WRM 3652. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Joseph Wright of Derby (Derby 1734 - 1797 Derby): Dovedale in Moonlight, c. 1785. Oil on canvas, 46 x 66 cm. Acquired in 2008. WRM 3648. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Angelika Kauffmann (Chur 1741 – 1807 Rome): Portrait of Thomas Reade, c. 1775. Oil on canvas, 76 x 63 cm. Acquired in 2007 as a gift from the "Freunde des Wallraf-Richartz-Museums und des Museums Ludwig e.V." and with kind support of Christel Müller-Bertgen and Johannes Müller. WRM 3644. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
Johann Anton de Peters (Cologne 1725 – 1795 Cologne): Homage to Gluck, c. 1775. Oil on canvas, 75 x 58.5 cm. Collection of Ferdinand Franz Wallraf. WRM 1080. Photo: Rheinisches Bildarchiv
