Draft:Amours de Gombault et Macée

Les Amours de Gombault et Macée is a popular pastoral theme, especially depicted in tapestries and engravings during the late 16th and 17th centuries. These works portray the stages of peasant life through the experiences and romances of a shepherd and a shepherdess.

= Theme = This theme is part of the tradition of pastoral literature, particularly the pastoral novel, which was fashionable throughout the 16th century and reached its pinnacle in France with Honoré d'Urfé's "L'Astrée" in 1607.

However, the series of tapestries depicting the loves of Gombault and Macée, comprising eight panels for the complete series, stands out in that it continues the story beyond marriage, until the death of Gombault, and gives greater prominence to realistic elements of daily life. Furthermore, the representations, especially the texts contained in the captions on some panels, address sexuality with levity and bawdiness.

This theme enjoyed great popularity in the 17th century, to the extent that there is a reference to it in Molière's "The Miser" (line spoken by La Flèche to his master Cléante, Act II, Scene One).