Antoine Watteau

Jean-Antoine Watteau was a French painter and draughtsman whose brief career spurred the revival of interest in colour and movement, as seen in the tradition of Correggio and Rubens. He revitalized the waning Baroque style, shifting it to the less severe, more naturalistic, less formally classical, Rococo. Watteau is credited with inventing the genre of fêtes galantes, scenes of bucolic and idyllic charm, suffused with a theatrical air. Some of his best known subjects were drawn from the world of Italian comedy and ballet.

10 October 1684

Born on the same birth day (10 October): Charles Dance • Harry Smith (footballer, born 1932) • Jon Locke • Kangta • Rodjun Cruz • Rumiko Takahashi • Thelonious Monk • Toshi (musician) • Willard Estey

Born in the same month (October 1684): Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin