Boucher made these four paintings in 1755 for Madame De Pompadour, King Louis XV’s long-term official mistress. Their original location is unknown, but their peculiar shape suggests that they were used as overdoors, no doubt in one of Pompadour’s many properties in France.

In place of the labors that traditionally illustrate the theme of the four seasons, Boucher depicts delightful amorous encounters in joyous colors. In Spring, a youth, set in an enchanting pastoral setting, adorns his lover’s hair with flowers. A group of voluptuous bathing nudes represents Summer. In Autumn, a young man offers a bunch of grapes to his fashionable beloved. Her little straw hat perches precariously on her head.

Perhaps the most beguiling of all is Winter, which reflects the eighteenth-century European fascination with Russia. The frosty background here is unusual for Boucher, vividly evoking the silence of a landscape buried under snow. A Tartar in pseudo-Russian dress pushes the heroine on an elaborate sleigh. Glancing out at us coyly, she sports a billowing fur-trimmed gown and a little fur necklace. Her hands may be warmed by a muff, but her upper body is completely exposed. This combination of luxury and seduction—all treated in a fanciful, even humorous manner—is typical of Boucher.