Jeane-Honoré Fragonard, the Swing, 1767Jeane-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1767The most significant element in this painting is value. Fragonard painted the Baron de Saint-Julien’s mistress, brighter than anything else in the painting. It looks as if there is a spotlight shining down on just her, which draws the audience’s eye directly to her. The radiant sunlight shining down on her is so precise that it makes the outdoor scene appear to be a fantasy world (Davies et al, 445). The value used in this painting is used to set a scene and draw the eyes of any viewer directly towards the woman on the swing.
The most significant principle in the painting is emphasis and focal point. It is obvious that Fragonard wanted to make the mistress the focal point in the painting because the colors used to paint the background, landscape, and other figures are a lot dimmer, making them “visually less interesting [and] dominant” (Skjei). This, combined with the value and light, create an emphasis on the woman, showing her importance in the composition (Skjei). This focal point can also be recognized through the rope swings and all the other figures in the painting that are looking or pointing at her.
ContentAt first glance, the painting looks like a woman simply swinging on a swing. However, with several visual clues, the true story the painting depicts is revealed to the audience. You see a man on the ground holding a hat in his left hand, a symbol for male genitalia. The pink dress signifies female genitalia, while the shoe flying off the woman’s foot is a symbol of “lost virginity” (Skjei). The man lying on the ground is also looking up the mistress’ dress with a pleased look on his face. Lastly, the woman is at the peak or highest point of the swing, signifying the peak of sexual pleasure (Skjei). All these visual clues combined, show a story of a woman who has now lost her virginity to the man lying on the ground
The paintings of the ancient Greek and Roman world are a continuation of the story of virgins which was woven into them by the Persian king Persepolis. This story was told by the mother of Isis who was a goddess. Persepolis was also said to have made a large quantity of flowers in order to help create the most beautiful flowers. In that same book, Dionysius wrote a song based upon it that described the most beautiful flowers he had seen in his life. There are six of those flowers in which the male part of the flower is visible (see below).
A woman who wore the arabic headdress on her body (in this case, headdress with a short skirt or headdress with short sleeves and a long tail) to dance in the center of a circle is also a symbol of virginity. One in the center of the arabic rose flower with a short veil is to signify the man, the woman and the circle (Skjei). As is the case when wearing a headdress, one must go through both the long, short legs and the short legs and walk long distances to reach them.
According to ancient tradition, a princess who was not a woman had to stay between four and six years in a cave beneath Mount Olympus. Because of this long, narrow, narrow cave, many women would have to stay for only six years, or four years. The rest would have to go on to the Mount Olympus. These princesses and their attendants would spend the very first couple of years in a cave somewhere in order to have a good deal of time going to the cave. So the princesses and their attendants would stay for ten years at least before coming to the main cave. After that, two years were not enough for the princesses or even the attendants to take care of their own needs. As a rule, their attendants would often stay with the princesses as they tried to reach the top.
One of the main reasons that ancient women got pregnant in the time that was between 4000 B.C. and 4000 B.C. was the destruction of the caves by earthquakes which caused immense devastation. This was one of the reasons that the famous Greek goddess Persepolis (or Aphrodite) fell from the cliff of Mount Olympus, her father and her mother being killed by earthquakes. She then became to be the strongest maiden in the myth that was later used in Greek mythology.
When the story was written (the time was of course 4000 B.C.) it would be quite a surprise if there were not ancient women that used the ancient myth of virginity, as many of its main protagonists were also virgins or having children. As we will explore later, this type of story was believed to have originated in the