Abstract
THE painting known as the Fête Champêtre or the Concert Champêtre, which is usually attributed to Giorgione,1 was transferred, during the French Revolution, from the royal collection at Versailles to the Louvre, where it hangs today (Fig. 1).2 The present titles of the painting have identified it for more than a century and a half, since shortly after it changed ownership; before 1800 it was known more simply as Pastorale.3 These two forms of its title stand for two different interpretations of its subject, those presently used describing the activities of the people out-of-doors, the earlier one bringing out the poetic appearance of the scene as a whole. In a “fête champêtre,” as in any social occasion held sur l'herbe, we may expect to find lingering traces of the artificiality of indoor life; in a “pastorale” the event will seem rather to be spontaneous, arising typically from the mood which has been engendered by the delightful surroundings.