Amédée Servin (1829-1884) · Third quarter of the 19th century · Oil on canvas · 27 × 46 cm · Original title : Le tir à l'arc à Villiers-sur-Morin
The scene takes place in the open air, in that indeterminate space between the village and the fields of which Servin was so fond. In the centre, two white targets mounted on wooden frames mark out the competition ground. Around them is arranged a whole village gathering whose layout reflects the social hierarchy: on the left, a compact group of archers in dark clothes, some wearing top hats; on the right, near an inn, a more mixed crowd of spectators, women in white bonnets, children, men in working smocks.
The framing is wide, panoramic, as if Servin wished to take in at a single glance all the village sociability concentrated in this moment. The handling remains faithful to the realist manner the painter adopted from the 1860s onwards: a painting of social reality, attentive to the gestures, roles and collective rites that structure rural life, with the Brie territory treated not as mere scenery but as lived space.
Notice · Galerie de Crécy