“L’amour badine en France; il se montre un grand jour Il ne prend point de masque, il se parle sans detour; Il vit dans les festins, aux plaisir il s’allie, C’est une liberté que le noeud qui nous lie Nous servons sans constrainte e Bacchus e l’Amour. Et nos tristes voisins nous taxent de folie. M. ROY.” L’AMOUR AU THÉÂTRE ITALIEN “La jalouse Italie effrayante les amours, Les fait marcher de nuit, les constraint au mistère Mais une Serenade y supplie aux discours; Un geste, un sel regard conclud on rompt d’Affaire, L’impatient Francois en intrigue préfere, Des chemins moins couverts, les croyée--vous plus courts? M. ROY.” These stanzas are by Roy, a contemporary poet who was a librettist for the Opera, two of whose operas were produced in 1712. One thing is certain, that Watteau’s own eyes must have noted the contrast between the Italian and French comedy to have painted such pictures. He could not have painted them without being an observant theatre-goer. What, then, did he see, and when could he have seen such productions as might suggest such works? While acknowledging that positive evidence is still to be sought, I cannot help feeling that these two pictures, and one or two others, could fairly safely be placed as work done about 1711-1712. In 1709 Antoine, still with Audran at the Luxembourg, competed for entry, and was admitted with four other students, for the Academy. Then he left Paris for Valenciennes, defraying expenses by selling a military picture, “Départ des Troupes,” to the dealer, Sirois, who urged him to paint a similar picture, which he did at Valenciennes. [Illustration: L’Amour au Théâtre Italien] [Illustration: L’Amour au Théâtre Français (_From the Jullienne engravings from Watteau, British Museum_).] There is no direct evidence that Watteau painted any stage-pictures _before_ this period; and it would seem that his work in the country was mainly on military and naturalistic subjects. We _do_ know that he was again in Paris at a date uncertain in 1712, and went to live with a Monsieur Crozat, by whom he was engaged to paint a series of panels of The Seasons. It is extremely likely that he would have returned to Paris refreshed by his country sojourn and with a new zest for work, _and_ for theatre-going, which was then beginning to be particularly interesting, a crisis in the Fair Theatre troubles being over by 1710, and some new productions there as well as at the opera being well worth seeing.