Title: Ceres (Summer) Artist: Jean-Antoine Watteau (French, 1684-1721) Date: ca. 1717-1718 Genre: allegorical art Movement: Rococo Medium: oil on canvas Dimensions: 141.6 cm (55.7 in) high x 115.7 cm (45.6 in) wide Location: National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, USA
In this oval painting, Watteau -- one of the most important artists of the French Rococo period -- depicts Summer as Ceres, the ancient Roman goddess of agriculture and the harvest (=Greek Demeter). Ceres, seated atop a cloud, wears a crown of wheat, cornflowers, and poppies. She grasps a sickle in her left hand to symbolize her patronage of reapers. On this side, two figures, a woman and child, appear among sheaves of grain. At Ceres's right hand crouches a lion, representing the summer constellation Leo.
