Philippe Mercier arrived in England in 1725 bringing with him prints which he had made after Antoine Watteau (1684-1721); some were of his own invention, suggesting that the limited original supply of such images had to be augmented. He served as Painter and Librarian to Frederick, Prince of Wales, from 1728 until 1738. This painting shows how completely his appeal lay in providing what Watteau's death had cut off at source: the fantasy and romance of the fetes champetres, with whimsical figures taken from the Comedia dell'arte in a formal garden setting. Pierrot sits here beneath a pink drapery, dressed in white, accompanied by a woman in pink with a dog in her lap and a third figure, playing a mandoline. Behind them is a garden grotto with a stream issues from a carved fountain. In the foreground two lovers are sitting in the shade. Though a brightly-lit scene we can tell it is late afternoon or evening; the colour of the trees suggests the passage from Summer to Autumn, as if to meditate upon the fleeting nature of pleasure.