Excerpt from The Connoisseur, Vol. 12: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors; May-August, 1905<br><br>In the autumn Of 1761, twenty-nine years Of age, he returned to Paris rich in projects for pictures, full Of ardour and enthusiasm, ambitious to create masterpieces, and burning to distinguish himself.<br><br>Fragonard at once set himself to the task Of painting the historic or mythologic academic piece expected from the holder Of the Prix de Rome on his return to France. His painting, though badly hung at the Louvre, was hailed with high praise by the academicians, and for a year or so he essayed historic painting in the grand manner but the praise Of Diderot and Grimm failed to fill his pocket, and he decided to paint no more academic pieces. He had indeed no taste for such things, no sympathy with the great past. He was a very son Of France, a child Of his own' day, glorying in the love Of life.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.