The Fiancee of the King of Garbe: The Tree

Fragonard's design for an illustration to La Fontaine's “Les Contes” (The Tales) reveals the complexity of this protracted project. The scene replicates a composition known from a reworked counterproof, now in an album in the Petit Palais, Paris. The original design may have dated from around 1770 when the artist undertook a sustained campaign to illustrate the salacious and popular tales following his first trip to Italy. This replication, and updating, of the design may date to around 1790 when Fragonard contributed plates to an edition organized by Pierre Didot and published in 1795. Alternatively, it may have been produced for an independent commission, given the appeal of the gallant subject to collectors. While the scene did not appear in Didot's publication, it served as the basis for a print by Louis Jacques Petit for which Marie-Anne Dupuy-Vachey identified a 1797 payment to Petit from Fragonard.
The scene depicts the sultan of Alexandria's daughter Alaciel standing at the base of the tree regarding her ardent admirer, a Sudanese lord named Hispal, although she is promised in marriage to the king of Garbe.