Rousseau - The Wedding

This is Henri Rousseau's painting The Wedding. It wasn't painted at an actual wedding ceremony but is believed to be based on a wedding photograph. The mustached man standing just behind the bride's right side is said to be Rousseau himself, which has led some to suggest the painting depicts his own wedding—though this has never been confirmed.

The background is filled with carefully rendered trees, revealing Rousseau's close observation of nature. The figures, on the other hand, feel slightly off in scale and placement, a hallmark of his distinctive style. The bride's feet, for instance, appear not to touch the ground at all—a deliberate technique Rousseau used to blur the line between reality and dream.

The Musée de l'Orangerie holds nine paintings by Rousseau in all, and we'll look at them one by one as we continue.