Top works of art for Valentine’s Day
The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767) in the Wallace Collection, London. Fragonard’s melting garden vista through which a woman swings to a perfumed fop’s delight may well be the most flirtatious painting of all time.
Cupid and Psyche (1798) by François Gérard in the Louvre, Paris. There’s a youthful innocence to Gérard’s mythological lovers – a romantic painting from the age of Romanticism.
Venus and Mars (1485) by Sandro Botticelli in the National Gallery, London. Botticelli’s art is dedicated to Venus, goddess of love – he portrayed her naked on a shell, presiding over the deities of springtime (Primavera), and here lying down with her lover, the god of war.
Before (1732) by William Hogarth in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Hogarth portrays the two young lovers whispering sweet nothings in a deliberate pastiche of fancy French rococo paintings of gardens of love …
After (1732) by William Hogarth in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. And it’s all over … the silken clothes are in disarray, the loosened shirt spilling over the man’s thigh a none-too-subtle allusion to his spent state.
The Kiss (1901-4) by Rodin in Tate Modern. Rodin’s enthusiasm is infectious, his sensuality awe-inspiring – this is modern art’s most perfect Valentine. guardian.co.uk
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