Explore the abstract of this artwork.
The Worried Lover (L'Amante inquiète) is an oil on panel painting in the Musée Condé, Chantilly, by the French Rococo artist Antoine Watteau. Variously dated to c. 1715–1720, the painting was among private collections throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, until it has been acquired by Henri d'Orleans, Duke of Aumale, son of King Louis Philippe I; as part of the Duke of Aumale's collection at the Château de Chantilly, The Worried Lover was bequeathed to the Institut de France in 1884.
At 24 by 17.5 cm, the painting is a case of small, single-figure, and full-length composition showing a costumed character, often in Watteau's art; it shows a seated young woman amid a landscape, dressed in pastoral attire, and holding a set of the cut roses, viewed by authors as a symbol of consumed love. With slight differences, the woman's figure has been adapted by Watteau from a double sanguine drawing, in which a study exactly matches the pose of the woman in the painting; Watteau also made an etching showing a woman seated in a very similar pose. In light of its provenance, The Worried Lover was related to two other paintings by Watteau, The Chord and The Dreamer.
Château de Chantilly Institut de France Antoine Watteau F Henri d'Orleans, Duke of Aumale Rococo Chantilly Louis Philippe I The Chord oil on panel The Dreamer Musée Condé French Rococo