Katalin Kovács

The aim of this study is to examine different possible meanings of the expression “Watteau’s monkeys”. In its literal sense, it leads us to those works of the artist which represent monkeys: to the arabesque entitled The Monkeys of Mars, to the engraving called Amour mal accompagné and to his two paintings in which monkey artists can be found. In a more abstract and theoretical sense, this expression is related – in a pejorative way – to artistic imitation: it may refer to Watteau’s epigones, who made an attempt to create fête galante paintings in the manner of the artist. These two meanings intertwine in the symbolism traditionally attached to the figure of the monkey, the animal which has a reputation for being an excellent imitator, as the proverb ars simia naturae puts it, art is the monkey of nature.

The article aims to analyse, following the example of some paintings of Delacroix, how the “invisible part” of the painting can be made visible by the colour. To do this, we shall draw on the critical writings that Baudelaire devoted to the painting of Delacroix. At the same time, by focusing on the notion of sentiment, we shall try to connect, from a historical perspective, the colourist conception of the painting to the artistic theories of the Enlightenment, and point up the modifications undergone by this concept within French discourse on art.