Fireworks

In this piece, Valentín Thibon de Libian captured an instant of a nocturnal display taking place in a public park. The figures are painted like dabs of color; they may be raptly watching the fireworks display, whether seated or standing, or, on the contrary, they may be absorbed in their own world, removed from the spectacle. A leafy tree frames the scene from the left-hand side and another smaller one does the same from the right; the most numerous group of people is gathered under the former. There is a small pool in the middle, where a woman in a green dress is seated on the edge while two gentlemen approach to speak with her; the reflection of all three can be clearly seen in the calm water’s surface. Surrounding the base of the most outstanding tree, there is an exquisite detail describing a gardening arrangement of multicolored flowers. Above the tree’s crown in the distance the fireworks’ explosions appear, intuition would imply that the shadows projected there are as fleeting as the induced nocturnal splendor. The entire scene is painted with short, rapid brushstrokes, lending a particularly dynamic quality to the night.