This charming late 17th-century Flemish painting was once a fan before being laid on canvas, extended and cherished. It's filled with tiny episodes of courtship, leisure and fashionable country life.

At its centre stands an elaborate garden bower formed from trelliswork and climbing foliage. Around it, elegantly dressed men and women gather in small groups. Couples converse, a lady appears to receive a gentleman's attention, servants attend their companions, while elsewhere figures stroll through the garden or simply observe proceedings. The artist has created a miniature world in which numerous little stories unfold simultaneously.

It's tempting to read the scene as a marriage celebration. Fans were closely associated with courtship and could be given as betrothal or wedding gifts, while their decoration frequently drew upon subjects concerning love and marriage. Yet nothing here appears sufficiently explicit to identify a particular wedding. Instead, the imagery seems closer to the broader tradition of the "Garden of Love" - an idealised setting in which fashionable society could be shown pursuing courtship and suitably refined behaviour.

The 'treillage pavilion' provides a symbolic centre. Such garden structures created semi-private spaces within formal gardens: somewhere to meet, converse and perhaps flirt beyond the greater formality of the house. Here, two bowers turn the landscape into a stage upon which the rituals of polite society are performed.

But there's more happening than romance alone. On the middle left, an older man appears to receive coins, introducing the virtue of charity into this otherwise privileged gathering. Nearby are horses and attendants, while on the lower right, a hunting party gathers with dogs. One particularly intriguing figure carries a rectangular box or case towards the company. Its precise purpose is difficult to determine - perhaps equipment, provisions or something connected with the day's entertainment.

Originally, the composition would have been read quite differently from a conventional painting. The eye travels across it almost as one might read a story, discovering one vignette after another. A courtship here, charity there; horses arriving, dogs waiting, friends gathering beneath the trellis.

A theatre of 17th-century life.

Held in a later frame.

Medium: Oil on paper laid on canvas
Overall size: 19½” x 12” / 49cm x 31cm
Year of creation: c. 1670
Provenance: Private collection, France.
Condition: Cleaned. Revarnished. Later stretcher. Old repairs. Craquelure throughout. The paint layer is stable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear. 
Our reference: BRV2353