''The Dream of Happiness'' is an allegorical oil on canvas painting by

Constance Mayer Marie-Françoise Constance Mayer La Martinière (9 March 1775 – 26 May 1821) was a French painter of portraits, allegorical subjects, miniatures and genre works. She had "a brilliant but bitter career."Petteys, Chris, "Dictionary of Women Ar ...

and

Pierre-Paul Prud'hon Pierre-Paul Prud'hon (, 4 April 1758 – 16 February 16, 1823) was a French Romantic Painting, painter and drawing, draughtsman best known for his allegorical paintings and portraits such as ''Madame Georges Anthony and Her Two Sons'' (1796). ...

, now in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

History

It was first exhibited as number 809 at the Paris Salon of 1819 and has remained in the French national collection ever since. It shows a couple and their child in a boat rowed by

Fortuna Fortuna (, equivalent to the Greek mythology, Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Religion in ancient Rome, Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular thr ...

and steered by

Cupid In classical mythology, Cupid ( , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor (Latin: ...

. Few of Mayer's sketches survived, but many of Prud'hon's have. File:Prudhon Pierre-Paul Etude pour Le Reve du Bonheur.jpg, Prud'hon, ''Study of the Young Woman'' (1818), current location unknown. File:Prud'hon 1819 Amour tenant les rames.jpg, Prud'hon, ''Cupid Holding the Steering Oars'' (1819), current location unknown File:Lille PdBA prud'hon reve du bonheur.jpg, Prud'hon, Sketch (c. 1819),

palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille The Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille (''Lille Palace of Fine Arts'') is a municipal museum dedicated to fine arts, modern art, and antiquities located in Lille. It is one of the largest art museums in France. It was one of the first museums built i ...

References

1819 paintings Paintings by Pierre-Paul Prud'hon Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Paintings by Constance Mayer Allegorical paintings by French artists {{1810s-painting-stub