The Storm (Fragonard)
painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Storm (French: L'Orage) (also known as The Stalled Cart or Wagon in the Mud French: La Charrette embourbée) is an oil on canvas painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard that hangs in the Louvre, in Paris. Painted during his time in Rome, it was inspired by the caravan pictures of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione that were particularly admired in Paris.
The painting, 0.73m high and 0.97m wide, was a bequest to the Louvre in 1869 from the collection of Louis La Caze. It was completed around 1759.
Subject
The painting depicts an overloaded cart from an unusually low angle. The subject is similar to Castiglione’s pictures of overloaded vehicles, while the overcast sky and impending storm has more in common with the works of 17th century Dutch masters than with Italian models. The cart is stuck, and men are trying to push it forward from the rear while the ox bellows in front. Above, the wind whips the cover off the load, while below, sheep are huddled together for shelter. Above everything the storm races in over the sky, giving the moment its dramatic tension. Fragonard uses the paint to create forms that are indistinct and not clearly defined.
The public source identifies “The Storm (Fragonard)” as painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Storm, Fragonard and painting.
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Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 15, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q29855883. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1869 and 1759.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Storm (Fragonard)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.