#romance

Wikipedia says he painted this to get himself into the French academy, and they couldn't fit it into any category they already had, so they invented one — well-off people mucking about outdoors in silk. People still argue about whether this lot are setting off or coming home.

Apparently the colours aren't random: her pale blue and his red were meant to echo the flags of the alliance fighting Austria at the time this was painted. Some readings even spot a dagger half-hidden in his cloak — less a lover saying goodbye, more someone about to go do something dangerous.