Fête galante (French pronunciation: [fɛːt ɡalɑ̃t]) (courtship party) is a category of painting specially created by the French Academy in 1717 to describe Antoine Watteau´s (1684–1721) variations ...
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on the theme of the fête champêtre, which featured figures in ball dress or masquerade costumes disporting themselves amorously in parkland settings. When Watteau applied to join the French academy in 1717, there was no suitable category for his works, so the academy simply created one rather than reject his application. His reception piece was the Embarkation for Cythera, now in the Louvre.
