The feast at Saint-Cloud

The crowded and festive scene carefully depicted in this fine gouache is most likely the festival at Saint-Cloud. The celebration has very old origins in French history and throughout the 18th Century became the opportunity for sumptuous festivities, attracting large crowds of Parisians. Fireworks, balls, water games, swings, exhibitions, a lottery and other games were organized for the occasion in the park of Saint-Cloud along the Seine. Included here are some spectacular details of the festivities such as the hot air balloon floating in the background and the monumental Grande Cascade, one of the main features of the park described in the sources as a ‘vast and superb theater of gushing crystal’.