1703 -1721 · Pierrot, Harlequin and Parisian scene

Pierrot frontal, Italian serenade, Swiss actress and Italian troupe show Watteau between role portrait, music, mask and fragile condition of the actor.

The theater has accompanied Antoine Watteau since his beginnings. He knows the Parisian fairs, the Comédie-Française and the imagination of commedia dell'arte, even though Italian actors were expelled from Paris in 1697 before their official return in 1716. Pierrot, formerly called Gilles, stands alone and frontal in front of other characters: his white costume makes him visible, but his expression resists explanation. Harlequin, Scapin, Mezzetin and the musicians play recognizable roles without being reduced to fixed types. The Harlequin, Scapin, Mezzetin and the musicians play recognizable roles without being reduced to fixed types. The Harlequin, Scapin, Mezzetin and the musicians play recognizable roles without being reduced to fixed types. The Italian Serenade circulates desire through music. The portraits of actresses blur played characters and real individuals. Watteau does not document not a precise representation; he transposes theater into painting and questions those who look, play or wait. Under the comic costume often remains a melancholy linked to the precariousness of the stage. The selection "Italian Theater and Comedy by Antoine Watteau" notably compares Pierrot, formerly known as Gilles, and The Italian Serenade. His reading favors space.

In Watteau, the mask does not erase the face: it makes the question of who plays, who observes and who remains alone after the scene more acute.