Washing Day at the Mill Horizontal Italian Tapestry

Washing Day at the Mill, Horizontal is an Italian jacquard woven wall tapestry. This tapestry is a rendering of one of a series painted by Francois Boucher (1703-1770), and shows women washing clothes by a lake, a typical pastoral activity that was popular in the Rococo era. Boucher was a French painter in the Rococo style, known for his idyllic and voluptuous paintings on classical themes, decorative allegories, and pastoral scenes. He was perhaps the most celebrated painter and decorative artist of the 18th century. He also painted several portraits of his patroness, Madame de Pompadour.