After an exceptionally long reign Louis XIV had at last passed away. He had asserted himself as strongly in Art as he had done in politics and it is worthy of note that, immediately after his death, artists were once more able to take their own independent courses. At this point, therefore, in the history of French Art we come upon a somewhat sudden change, visible also in the art of the cabinet-maker and the decorator. The later Bourbon Kings and Queens left their gorgeous salons and took refuge (with evident personal relief) in smaller and homelier chambers. These less imposing apartments, however, also required suitable decoration and serviceable furnishings: and it was here that Boucher found his opportunity. The boudoir with its delicate colouring and elegant upholstery played a significant rôle under the reigns of Maria Leczinska and Marie Antoinette, and the _petits appartements_ at Versailles became examples of a new style. Paintings on a smaller scale suitable for these graceful _bonbonnières_ were soon in demand; and from these it was but a step to the taste of Watteau, who is perhaps the most typical artist of this period. _Plaisir Pastoral_, _l'Amante Inquiète_, and _l'Amour Désarmé_ at Chantilly are fine examples of this artist's work. _Le Donneur des Sérénades_ in the Musée Condé, of which there is a similar composition at Buckingham Palace belongs to his later period, that is to say, to the last five years of his life. This work is said to represent Mezetin (one of the leading actors at the Comédie Italienne established at the Hôtel du Bourgogne) seated on a bench in a classic garden tuning his guitar. The _Amante Inquiète_, which forms a pendant to this picture, is of equal merit. Everything in these small paintings is refined and elegant, even to Nature herself--a style far more typical of Watteau, than the scenes of camp-life which mark his stay at Valenciennes in 1709. A study in red chalk of a _Warrior_, preserved in the Rotunda at Chantilly, recalls this period. In his sketches, of which a great number are in the Louvre, Watteau exhibits his talent as a draughtsman of the highest order and as a worthy pupil of Claude Gillot, the earliest creator of the style for which Watteau became so famous. His relations with Crozat, the famous financier and collector, who was the first to recognise his genius, began in 1612, and it was in his palace that he had an opportunity of studying paintings by the great Venetian masters and landscapes by Rubens, both of which so decidedly influenced his subsequent style. There are exquisite pictures by him in the Louvre and in the Wallace Collection. His _Ball under the Colonnade_ at Dulwich is very famous. [Illustration: Plate LXXIV. Photo. Giraudon. JOSEPH AND POTIPHAR'S WIFE. By Prud'hon. Photo. Giraudon. THE GUITARPLAYER. By Watteau. Musée Condé. _To face page 25_]