Described as ‘view of a picturesque garden’ at its first public sale in 1784, the painting was long believed to depict the park at Rambouillet, which belonged to the Duke of Penthièvre, although it also displayed similarities with other contemporary gardens, including Chantilly in particular. It is now believed that Fragonard did not intend to represent any specific location and that the composition, reviving the theme of the fête galante in a fictional garden, was a product of the artist’s imagination.

In a setting marked by theatricality, the transfigured landscape imposes itself as the great theme of the work. The presence of the gallant aristocracy at a party pays homage to Antoine Watteau and evokes compositions such as Pilgrimage to the Isle of Cythera (Musée du Louvre, Paris) and Spring (Private Collection).

The contrast between details such as the twisted tree, which derives from Chinese art, the obscurity of mysterious caves and the staircase flanked by roses bathed in light (the flowers of Venus), animated by small elegant figures, reinforce the fantastic dimension of the composition, described as simultaneously ‘unsettling and enchanting’.