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Landscape with a Villa

Jean Honoré Fragonard French

ca. 1761

Not on view

This tranquil landscape with a grand villa at the far right was inspired by Fragonard’s travels through the Veneto in July 1761, as he and Saint-Non returned from Rome to Paris. In order to suggest the brightness and warmth of summer, as well as the volume, texture, and movement of the foliage, Fragonard applied red chalk in refined, linear patterns over a black chalk underdrawing. Despite the broad scope of the composition, the forest, buildings, and figures are all rendered with the same clear, precise technique.

Landscape with a Villa, Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris), Red chalk over black chalk — This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Landscape with a Villa

Artist: Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, Grasse 1732–1806 Paris)

Date: ca. 1761

Medium: Red chalk over black chalk

Dimensions: 9 1/4 × 14 15/16 in. (23.5 × 38 cm)

Classification: Drawings

Credit Line: Private collection

How Chalk Drawings are Made

How Chalk Drawings are Made

An illustrated explainer.

The Met

Drawings and Prints at The Met

The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.