François Boucher (1703-1770) was born in Paris and probably received his first artistic training from his father who was a painter before attending the Académie de France in Rome. He may also have travelled to Naples, Venice and Bologna. Around 1731 Boucher returned to Paris where he rapidly gained the royal favour and interest from private collectors. He was a very prolific artist and produced a wide range of artworks from pastoral paintings, porcelain and tapestry designs as well as stage designs influencing deeply the new Rococo movement.

This painting is a copy after a composition signed and dated by Boucher in 1741. It depicts the allegory of Air and originally belongs to a series of four paintings depicting the Elements. 595-1882 forms a pendant with another copy after Boucher's Allegory of Fire (596-1882). This work is a fine example of the early career of Boucher, who already pervaded his oeuvre with mischievous pastoral scenes which would become the hallmark of his art and eventually of the whole rococo period.