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==Term and origins== [[File:Johan Joseph Zoffany - David Garrick and Mary Bradshaw in David Garrick's "The Farmer's Return" - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|276px|''David Garrick and Mary Bradshaw in David Garrick's "The Farmer's Return"'' by [[Johann Zoffany]], 1762.]] The term derives from the Latin word 'conversatio' and was related to the French 'conversation', the Italian 'conversazione' and the Flemish/Dutch 'conversatie'. In the 17th century Habsburg Netherlands 'conversatie' described paintings of informal groups.<ref name=pat>Chin-Jung Chen, 'From genre to portrait: The etymology of the 'conversation piece' ', The British Art Journal Vol. 13, No. 2 (Autumn 2012), pp. 82-85</ref> In 1629 Rubens referred to a group of women as a 'conversatie van jouffrouwen' ('conversation of ladies', also known as ''conversatie à la mode'' and ''The Garden of Love'' (Prado)).<ref name=ox/> In 1670s Antwerp the low-life genre scenes of [[Adriaen Brouwer]] and [[Joos van Craesbeeck]] as well as the more elegant dance and social gatherings by [[Hieronymus Janssens]] and [[Christoffel Jacobsz van der Laemen]] were referred to as 'conversaties' and 'conversations'. In England the term 'conversation' or 'conversation piece' was first used at the end of the 17th century to describe unpretentious narrative or anecdotal pictures in the Flemish/Dutch style. Somewhat later it was also used for [[Antoine Watteau]]'s [[Fête galante|''fêtes galantes'']]. Only in 1730 it was used in England for the type of small-scale intimate portrait paintings painted by British painters such as [[Gawen Hamilton]].<ref name=pat/> The conversation piece's primary characteristic of representing a private interaction were already present in 15th-century paintings such as [[Jan van Eyck]]'s ''[[Arnolfini Portrait]]'' (1434) and [[Andrea Mantegna]]'s ''Lodovico Gonzaga with his Family'' (1471). The genre developed from 17th century portraiture in the [[Low Countries]].<ref>[[William Gaunt (art historian)|Gaunt, William]]. (1964) ''A concise history of English painting''. London: [[Thames and Hudson]], p. 58. {{ISBN|0500200165}}</ref> The compositions of merrymaking companies (''vrolijk gezelschap'') and garden parties (''buitenpartij'') painted by artists such as [[Dirck Hals]], [[David Vinckbooms]], [[Adriaen van de Venne]] and [[Willem Buytewech]] were an important influence on the genre. In addition, representations of elegant companies and balls by [[Hieronymus Janssens]] and the works of [[Peter Paul Rubens]], in particular his ''[[The Garden of Love (Rubens)|Garden of Love]]'' ([[Prado Museum]]), gave an impetus and direction to the development of the genre. In this last work, Rubens showed how a garden could be used as a setting for amorous dalliance and courtship.<ref>Mary Tavener, ''Nicolas Lancret: Dance Before a Fountain'', Holmes Getty Publications, p. 13-14</ref> More informal forms of portraiture developed showing the sitters in an intimate environment evoking new social ideals of friendship and marriage. Flemish and Dutch painters active in the mid 17th century started to paint families and friends at home in small-scale paintings such as [[David Teniers the Younger]], [[Gonzales Coques]], [[Gerard ter Borch]], [[Gabriel Metsu]], [[Caspar Netscher]] and [[Jacob Ochtervelt]].<ref name=ox/> [[File:Arthus Devis Thomas Cave Family 1749.jpg|thumb|278px|''Family Group in a Garden'' by [[Arthur Devis]], 1749.]]
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