Lancret, Nicolas (1690–1743)

French painter. His graceful fêtes galantes (festive groups of courtly figures in fancy dress) followed a theme made popular by Watteau. He also illustrated amorous scenes from the Fables of La Fontaine.

The fellow pupil with Watteau of Claude Gillot, like Watteau he painted the characters of Italian comedy and numerous fêtes galantes, though he lacked Watteau's poetry of colour and design. He introduced several personalities of the stage into his pictures, among them the celebrated dancer Marie-Anne Camargo. He was a prolific artist, painting about 800 pictures. Typical are The Four Ages of Man (National Gallery, London) and Une Conversation galante (Wallace Collection, London).