It is true that this is makeup (un fard), but we should wish that all current paintings were made up in this way. We already know that all painting is only makeup, that it is part of its essence to deceive, and that the greatest deceiver in this art is the greatest painter.--Roger de Piles, Cours de peinture par principes [1]
I would say he's never for a single instant seen nature.... [In Boucher's painting] there are too many pinched little faces, too much mannerism and ...