Seduction in art: paintings, drawings and prints

La Diseuse de bonne aventure, Caravaggio

La Diseuse de bonne aventure, 1594.

Caravaggio (Italian), oil on canvas

Capitoline Museums, Italy

La Surprise (2017.72), c. 1718–1719.

Antoine Watteau (French), oil on wood

J. Paul Getty Museum, United States

The Letter, or The Spanish Conversation, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

The Letter, or The Spanish Conversation, c. 1778.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), brush and brown ink and brush and brown wash, with graphite, on ivory laid paper

Art Institute of Chicago, United States

Courtship, c. 1887.

Zaloty (museum title)

Józef Chełmoński (Polish), watercolor on paper

National Museum in Kraków, Poland

An Ill-Matched Pair, Lucas Cranach l'Ancien

An Ill-Matched Pair, c. 1530.

Lucas Cranach l'Ancien (German), oil on canvas

Museum of Fine Arts and Archaeology of Besançon, France

An Old Man with a Girl / An Ill-Matched Couple, Lucas Cranach l'Ancien

An Old Man with a Girl / An Ill-Matched Couple, c. 1530–1540.

Lucas Cranach l'Ancien (German), paint on wood panel

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Capercaillies Courting, 1899.

Tjäderlek (museum title)

Bruno Liljefors (Swedish), oil on canvas

Thiel Gallery, Sweden

Ratapoil Spreading Propaganda, Honoré Daumier

Ratapoil Spreading Propaganda, 1851.

Ratapoil Fesant de la Propaganda: Si vous aimez votre… (museum title)

Honoré Daumier (French), lithograph

National Gallery of Art, United States

Rinaldo and Armida, 1629.

Renaud et Armide (museum title)

Nicolas Poussin (French), oil on canvas

Dulwich Picture Gallery, United Kingdom

Vous êtes jolie..., 1848.

Honoré Daumier (French), lithograph

National Gallery of Art, United States

Flight of Love, 1901.

L'Amour s'envole (museum title)

William Bouguereau (French), oil on canvas

Frye Art Museum, United States

Four o'clock flower, 1847.

Belle-de-nuit (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored steel engraving

Getty Research Institute, United States

The Cupboard, 1778.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), etching

Cleveland Museum of Art, United States

The Lock, c. 1777–1778.

Le Verrou (museum title)

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), oil on canvas

Louvre Museum, France

The Lucretias, 1844.

Les Lucrèces (museum title)

Grandville (French), handcolored woodcut

Getty Research Institute, United States

The Love Letter, 1770s.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), oil on canvas

Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States

The Husband-Confessor, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

The Husband-Confessor, c. 1770.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), brush and brown wash over light black chalk underdrawing

Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States

The Swing, c. 1767–1768.

Les Hasards Heureux de l'Escarpolette (museum title)

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), oil on canvas

Wallace Collection, United Kingdom

You insist on playing with the gentleman; you can see he turns up the king every time, Grandville

You insist on playing with the gentleman; you can see he turns up the king every time, c. 1829.

Tu 'entetes a jouer avec Monsieur; tu vois bien qu'il… (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Minneapolis Institute of Art, United States

Ce satané Pigochard..., 1848.

Honoré Daumier (French), lithograph

National Gallery of Art, United States

A Foregone Conclusion, Lawrence Alma-Tadema

A Foregone Conclusion, 1885.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch), oil on wood

Tate Britain, United Kingdom

Thistle, 1847.

Chardon (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored steel engraving

Getty Research Institute, United States

Helen Brought to Paris, 1776.

Benjamin West (American), oil on canvas

Smithsonian American Art Museum, United States

The Swing, c. 1775–1780.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), oil on canvas

National Gallery of Art, United States

Ill-Matched Lovers, Lucas Cranach l'Ancien

Ill-Matched Lovers, c. 1530.

Lovers (museum title)

Lucas Cranach l'Ancien (German), oil on wood panel

Bemberg Collection, France

Journey for Eternity, No. 1, c. 1839.

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States

Jupiter and Antiope, Jacques-Louis David

Jupiter and Antiope, 1771.

Jupiter et Antiope (museum title)

Jacques-Louis David (French), oil on canvas

Musée de Sens, France

The Mating of the Capercaillies, Bruno Liljefors

The Mating of the Capercaillies, 1888.

Tjäderlek (museum title)

Bruno Liljefors (Swedish), oil on canvas

Gothenburg Museum of Art, Sweden

System of attraction, 1829.

Système d'attraction (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Rijksmuseum, Netherlands

Oh! that monster of a man is always following us, Grandville

Oh! that monster of a man is always following us, 1828–1829.

Oh Le monstre d'homme y nous suit toujours (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Maison de Balzac, France

Amid Peach Trees in Bloom, Fernando Fader

Amid Peach Trees in Bloom, 1915.

Entre duraznos floridos (museum title)

Fernando Fader (Argentinian), oil on canvas

Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection, Argentina

The Faux Pas, 1717.

Le faux-pas (museum title)

Antoine Watteau (French), oil on canvas

Department of Paintings, Louvre Museum, France

Flirting in the Park, 1942.

Kurtise i parken (museum title)

Edvard Munch (Norwegian), oil on canvas

Munch Museum, Norway

Gleams of the Setting Sun, or The Seduction, Jan Toorop

Gleams of the Setting Sun, or The Seduction, c. 1888–1889.

Lueurs du soleil couchant ou La Séduction (museum title)

Jan Toorop (Dutch), oil on canvas

Kröller-Müller Museum, Netherlands

Flirt, c. 1895–1900.

Alphonse Mucha, color lithograph

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, United States

Suzanne et les vieillards, Eugène Delacroix

Suzanne et les vieillards, 1854.

Eugène Delacroix (French), oil on cardboard

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Reims, France

The Ill-Matched Couple, Lucas Cranach l'Ancien

The Ill-Matched Couple, 1528.

Ill-matched couple (museum title)

Lucas Cranach l'Ancien (German)

Bavarian State Painting Collections, Germany

Oh! Listen to the Voice of Love, James Gillray

Oh! Listen to the Voice of Love, 1799.

James Gillray (British), hand-colored etching

Art Institute of Chicago, United States

Non, madame, je ne vous quitterai pas..., Honoré Daumier

Non, madame, je ne vous quitterai pas..., 1848.

Honoré Daumier (French), lithograph

National Gallery of Art, United States

Innocence in danger, 1828–1829.

L'innocence en danger (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Maison de Balzac, France

My Sister Is Not In, Lawrence Alma-Tadema

My Sister Is Not In, 1879.

Lawrence Alma-Tadema (Dutch), oil on panel

Walters Art Museum, United States

Tuberose, Jonquil, 1847.

Tubéreuse, Jonquille (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored steel engraving

Getty Research Institute, United States

Flirting in the Park, 1942.

Kurtise i parken (museum title)

Edvard Munch (Norwegian), oil on canvas

Munch Museum, Norway

“The Poet Sōjō Henjō (816–890) Slipping a Letter into a Woman’s Sleeve,” from the series Five Colors of Love for the Six Poetic Immortals (Goshiki-zome rokkasen), c. 1798.

Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese), colour woodcut on paper

Metropolitan Museum of Art, United States

The Progress of Love: The Meeting, Jean-Honoré Fragonard

The Progress of Love: The Meeting, 1771.

La Rencontre (museum title)

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (French), oil on canvas

The Frick Collection, United States

The Ill-Matched Couple, c. 1530.

Lucas Cranach l'Ancien (German), oil on limewood panel

Bavarian State Painting Collections, Germany

Woman Holding a Tortoise-shell Hair-comb, Kitagawa Utamaro

Woman Holding a Tortoise-shell Hair-comb, c. 1795–1796.

Kitagawa Utamaro (Japanese), colour woodcut on paper

Art Institute of Chicago, United States

Cephalus and Aurora, 1630.

Céphale et Aurore (museum title)

Nicolas Poussin (French), oil on canvas

National Gallery, United Kingdom

An abduction, or a sly accomplice, Grandville

An abduction, or a sly accomplice, 1828–1829.

Un Enlèvement ou un rusé compère (museum title)

Grandville (French), hand-colored lithograph

Maison de Balzac, France

Un Retour de jeunesse, 1845.

Honoré Daumier (French), lithograph

National Gallery of Art, United States