Antoine Watteau was inducted as a full member of the French Academy in 1717 with Pilgrimage to Cythera as his reception piece.
The painting was presented to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture on August 28, 1717. Its subject did not fit neatly into the Academy’s established hierarchy, so the institution described it as a “fête galante”—an elegant outdoor scene of flirtation and leisure. The label became closely associated with Watteau and an important Rococo genre.
Watteau had already been accepted as an associate or probationer in 1712, which explains apparently conflicting dates. He then delayed submitting the painting required for full admission. Thus 1717 is the key year for his full membership and the presentation of Pilgrimage to Cythera, not the beginning of his Academy association.
The Louvre painting is often confused with a related second version, commonly called The Embarkation for Cythera, painted around 1718 or 1719 and now in Berlin’s Charlottenburg Palace. Cythera itself was associated in Greek mythology with Aphrodite, the goddess of love.