Goethe wrote about the French painter Claude Lorrain: "... there is not a trace of everyday reality in his paintings, but there is a higher truth."
Claude Lorrain, like his great compatriot Nicolas Poussin, lived almost all his life in Italy, but he painted only landscapes, which were a big hit. At first, it seemed that nothing foreshadowed such a loud glory.
Claude Gellet - this is his real name - was born in Lorraine (Lorraine), hence the nickname Lorrain, rooted in the Italian bohemian environment. He came from a peasant family and, orphaned early, left for Italy, where in Rome he was a servant, and then a student of a minor painter Antonio Tassi. With the exception of a two-year stay in Naples and a short visit to Lorraine, Lorrain's life was spent entirely in Rome.
Separate landscape works appeared in the art of Italian masters of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, but only with Claude Lorrain did the landscape become an independent genre. The artist was inspired by the motifs of real Italian nature, but in his paintings they formed a generalized, ideal image, corresponding to the norms of classicism. The compositions with the principle of wings (lush trees with transparent crowns, ancient buildings and ruins, ships with masts and rigging) and carefully drawn foreground are impeccably built; sometimes paintings vary similar motifs.
Unlike Poussin, who perceived nature in a heroic way, Lorrain is primarily a lyricist. His works do not have a depth of thought, a breadth of coverage of reality, they more directly express a living sense of nature, a shade of personal experience. There is a lot of light, air, space, serene peace in the landscapes. Their special attraction lies in the feeling of space attracting to itself, in the fact that from the shaded foreground the center of the picture seems to swing open into the depths, into the transparent distance. The source of light, placed near the horizon, illuminates the transparent lightened sky, and the light, as it were, pours from the depths. According to legend, Lorrain did not like to paint figures in biblical and mythological scenes in the foreground and entrusted their execution to other painters. There is no doubt that he belonged to the general idea of these images, thanks to which nature and people were in a certain figurative relationship, and the figures did not turn into a simple staffing.
In his early works, Lorrain was more fond of details, somewhat overloading them with architectural motifs, making the foreground heavier with brownish tones. The Spanish King Philip IV commissioned a series of four large landscapes from the master. Paired vertical compositions depict "The Finding of Moses" and "The Burial of Saint Serafina" (both - 1637-1639, Madrid, Prado). The paintings seem to be connected with the themes of Life and Death, but their meaningful meaning recedes into the background before the image of the beautiful Italian nature.
According to the Bible, the mother of Moses, fearing the persecution of the pharaoh, hid the newborn baby in a tarred basket in the reeds near the banks of the Nile. It was discovered by the servants of the pharaoh's daughter, who was heading to bathe in the river. The plot Finding Moses - one of the most common in European painting - as a rule, was transferred to the environment of contemporary life for one or another artist, and in Lorrain's painting, the river, the Roman aqueduct in the distance, ghostly mountains, mysterious towers and the entire surrounding landscape have nothing to do with Egypt and the ancient Nile. The poetic landscape seems somewhat wordy. In the foreground, personifying the peace poured in nature, lies a shepherd grazing sheep.
The landscape "Burial of St. Serafina" is more boldly and successfully solved by the artist. It is dedicated to the story of the Christian Serafina, a native of Syria, who, having become a slave of the noble Roman woman Sabina, converted her mistress to Christianity. She was killed in the 2nd century. The burial of Serafina in a stone sarcophagus is depicted in the dusk of the foreground. Two parts are balanced in the composition: on the right there is a beautiful ancient temple with Ionic columns, on its high platform there are slender figures of women. To the left, a shining expanse of the sky opens, transparent distances extending deep into the distance, where the Roman Colosseum is visible in the haze. On the far hill is not an omen of the ancient Roman, but of the contemporary artist of the life of the Eternal City with its abandoned ancient ruins.
Lorrain's perception of nature becomes more and more emotional, he is interested in its changes depending on the time of day. In the integral cycle of the Hermitage, he embodies the subtle poetry of "Morning", the clear calmness of "Noon", the misty golden sunset of "Evening", the bluish gloom of "Night". The picture "Morning" is especially good. Here everything is shrouded in a silver-blue haze of the beginning dawn. A transparent silhouette of a large dark tree stands out against the lightening sky. Ancient ruins are still immersed in a gloomy shadow, bringing a shade of sadness to a clear and quiet landscape.
Claude Lorrain was especially fond of depicting the azure sea, its endless expanse, the ripples of the waves, the running sunny path. A beautiful picture of the Dresden Gallery is dedicated to the love of Galatea and Acis (1657). The sea nymph Galatea rejected Polyphemus, the terrible Sicilian Cyclops who lived in the cave. She hurries to her lover - the beautiful young man Acis, the son of the forest god Pan. In the left corner of the picture, Galatea swims in a boat to the shore, in the center of the picture is a joyful meeting of lovers. Their love is symbolized by a pair of white doves controlled by a small cupid. Among the gloomy rocks overgrown with shrubs, Polyphemus hides. Nothing portends a tragic denouement. According to Greek myth, Polyphemus ambushed Acis and threw a rock on him. Galatea turned her lover into a transparent river. The viewer, who does not know the plot basis of the picture, feels, first of all, the beauty of the landscape, its dreamy lyricism.
The artist especially often depicted marine compositions. In the painting "Sea Harbor at Sunrise" (1674, Munich, Alte Pinakothek), the free space of the sea dominates. Coming from the depths, the morning light of the sun penetrates everywhere, even into the shaded parts. The figures of people unloading the ship form strict, clear silhouettes in the foreground. The grandeur of nature is echoed by the beauty of architecture, the antique triumphal arch of divinely slender proportions.
Remarkable landscape sketches of Lorrain from nature, made during walks around the outskirts of Rome. With exceptional brightness, they reflected the master's inherent sense of nature. A collection of drawings created in 1648-1675 and reproducing the picturesque landscapes of Lorrain, made up Liber veritatis (The True Book; London, British Museum), which unites about two hundred works of the artist; her appearance was caused by the fear of imitations and falsifications of his paintings. Many of Lorrain's etude sketches are distinguished by the breadth and freedom of his pictorial manner, the ability to achieve strong effects with simple means. The motives of the drawings are very diverse: from the majestic Villa Albani, surrounded by a park, to a simple, moss-covered stone on the river bank.
Until the beginning of the 19th century, Lorrain's paintings remained models for the masters of landscape painting. His art, associated with the concept of "antique landscape", enriched the world's artistic heritage.
Tatyana Kaptereva
Claude Lorrain (fr. Claude Lorrain; 1600-1682).
Claude Lorrain (French Claude Lorrain; real name - Gellee or Jelly (Gellee, Gelee); 1600, Shaman, near Mirkur, Lorraine - November 23, 1682, Rome) - the famous French painter and engraver of landscapes.
Claude Loren was born in 1600 in the then independent Duchy of Lorraine (Lorrain) into a peasant family. Early became an orphan. Having received initial knowledge in drawing from his older brother, a skilled wood engraver in Freiburg, in Breisgau, in 1613-14. he went with one of his relatives to Italy. Working as a servant in the house of the landscape painter Agostino Tassi, he learned some techniques and skills. From 1617 to 1621, Lorrain lived in Naples, studied perspective and architecture with Gottfried Wels, and improved himself in landscape painting under the guidance of Agostino Tassi, one of P. Bril's students, in Rome, where after that Lorrain's whole life was spent, with the exception of two years (1625 -27) when Lorren returns to her homeland and lives in Nancy. Here he decorates the vault of the church and paints architectural backgrounds in commissioned works by Claude Derue, court painter of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1627, Lorrain again leaves for Italy and settles in Rome. There he lives until his death (1627-1682). At first, he performed custom-made decorative works, the so-called. "landscape frescoes", but later he managed to become a professional "landscape painter" and focus on easel works. In addition, Lorrain was an excellent etcher; he left etching only in 1642, finally choosing painting.
In 1637, the French ambassador to the Vatican bought two paintings from Lorrain, which are now in the Louvre: View of the Roman Forum and View of the Port with the Capitole. In 1639, the Spanish King Philip IV ordered Lorrain seven works (now in the Prado Museum), of which two are landscapes with hermits. Of the other customers, it is necessary to mention Pope Urban VIII (4 works), Cardinal Bentivoglio, Prince of Colonna.
The abduction of Europe. 1667. London. Royal collection
During the Baroque era, landscape was considered a minor genre. Lorren, nevertheless, receives recognition and lives in abundance. He rents a large, three-story house in the center of the capital, not far from the Plaza de España (since 1650); from 1634 he was a member of the Academy of St. Luke (i.e. art academy). Later, in 1650, he was offered to become the rector of this Academy, Lorrain refuses such an honor, preferring a quiet job. He communicates with artists, in particular - with N. Poussin, a neighbor whom he visits often in the 1660s to drink a glass of good red wine with him.
Lorrain was unmarried, but had a daughter, Agnes, born in 1653. He bequeathed all his property to her. Lorrain died in Rome in 1682.
Lorrain's last work, "Landscape with Oskaniy Shooting a Deer" (Museum, Oxford), was completed in the year of the artist's death, and is considered a real masterpiece.
Landscape with Ascanius shooting the Sibyl Stag, 1682. Oxford. Ashmolean Museum
Landscape with the finding of Moses.1638. Prado
Judgment of Paris. 1645-1646. Washington. National Gallery
The abduction of Europe. 1655. The Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
Other pictures are clickable*
Departure of the Queen of Sheba. 1648. National Gallery, London
"Sea Harbor at Sunrise" 1674. Old Pinakothek.
"Harbor with Villa Medici"
"Landscape with Shepherds (Pastoral)"
"View of Delphi with a Procession of Pilgrims" Rome, Doria Pamphili Gallery
"The siege of La Rochelle by the troops of Louis XIII"
"Egeria Lamenting Numa"
"Landscape with the Penitent Magdalene"
"Landscape with Apollo, the Muses and the River God" 1652 National Gallery of Scotland
View of the Roman Campagna from Tivoli, in the evening (1644-5)
"Landscape with David and Three Heroes"
"Easter Morning"
"Adoration of the Golden Calf"
"Landscape with the nymph Egeria and King Numa" 1669.Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte.
"Landscape with a shepherd and goats" 1636. London, National Gallery
"Landscape with Apollo and Mercury" 1645 Rome, Doria Pamphilj Gallery
"Departure of St. Paul in Ostia"
"Odysseus gives Chryseis to her father" 1648 Paris, Louvre
"Country Dance"
"The Arrival of Cleopatra at Tarsus" 1642, Louvre
"The Exile of Hagar"
"Acis and Galatea"
"Campo Vaccino"
"Departure of St. Ursula"
"Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah"
"Reconciliation of Cephalus and Procris" 1645 London, National Gallery
"Aeneas on the island of Delos" 1672 London, National Gallery
"Shepherd"
"Villa in Roman Campagna"
"Escape to Egypt"
Claude Lorrain was born on May 28, 1600 in Chamagne, France. Since childhood, the boy dreamed of becoming a confectioner. Schooling was difficult for him. And, having unlearned for some time, he drops out of school to master the art of confectionery.
In 1613 he ended up in Rome. Not knowing Italian, he was hired as a servant in the house of the landscape painter Agostino Tassi, who became his first teacher. Thanks to him, Claude learned some techniques and skills.
From 1617 to 1621 Lorrain lived in Naples and studied with another artist, the German Gottfried Waltz. Four years later, the artist returned to his homeland, where he began to paint architectural backgrounds in commissioned works by Claude Derue, the court painter of the Duke of Lorraine.
In 1639, King Philip IV of Spain commissioned seven works from Lorrain, of which two were landscapes with hermits. Among other customers were Pope Urban VIII, Cardinal Bentivoglio.
Five years later, Claude Lorrain begins Liber veritatis, a kind of catalog where he draws each of his paintings and notes the name of the owner. This handwritten book includes 195 works by the artist. The book is kept in the British Museum, London.
Claude Lorrain painted The Rape of Europa in 1655. It illustrates a plot from ancient Greek mythology, which tells about Europa, the daughter of King Agenor, who was kidnapped by the thunder god Zeus, turning into a white bull. This myth has been very popular.
Many artists of that time conveyed it in their own way: some set themselves the goal of conveying the abduction scene as accurately as possible: dynamic and exciting, while others were attracted by the surroundings. Claude Lorrain belonged to the second category. As in the painting "Morning", people on this canvas are assigned an insignificant role. The basis is the image of nature and its unity with man.
Lorrain's last work, "Landscape with Oskania Shooting a Deer", located in the Oxford Museum, was completed in the year of the artist's death and is considered a real masterpiece.
Roman popes and cardinals, aristocrats and diplomats, kings and the richest merchants admired his talent. In Lorrain's paintings, biblical, mythological or pastoral plot motifs are completely subordinated to the image of beautiful, majestic nature. For him, nature was a model of a sublime, perfect universe, in which peace and clear proportion reign.
Works by Claude Lorrain
"Sea Harbor" (c. 1636), Louvre
"Landscape with Apollo and Marsyas" (c. 1639), Pushkin Museum
"Departure of St. Ursula" (1646), London, National Gallery
"Landscape with Acis and Galatea" (1657), Dresden
"Landscape with penitent Mary Magdalene"
"The Abduction of Europe"
"Noon" (Rest on the flight to Egypt) (1661), Hermitage
"Evening" (Tobius and the Angel) (1663), Hermitage
"Morning" (Jacob and the daughters of Laban) (1666), Hermitage
"Night" (Struggle of Jacob with an angel) (1672), Hermitage
"View of the coast of Delos with Aeneas" (1672), London, National Gallery
"Ascanius Hunting the Stag of Silvina" (1682), Oxford, Ashmolean Museum
"Landscape with Dancing Satyrs and Nymphs" (1646), Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art
"Landscape with Acis and Galatea" from the Dresden Art Gallery is one of the favorite paintings of F. M. Dostoevsky; its description is contained, in particular, in the novel "Demons".
Claude Lorrain (real name - Gellet or Jelly; 1600, Shaman, near Mirkur, Lorraine - November 23, 1682, Rome) - French painter and engraver, one of the greatest masters of the classical landscape.
Biography of Claude Lorrain
Claude Lorrain was born in 1600 in the Duchy of Lorraine to a peasant family. The future master of classical landscapes was first introduced to drawing thanks to his older brother, who was a rather skilled wood engraver.
Little Claude was barely thirteen years old when, accompanied by one of his distant relatives, he went to Italy, where he spent almost the rest of his life.
Creativity Lorrain
The boy began his path to great painting by becoming a servant in the house of the Roman landscape painter Agostino Tassi. Here he received a lot of necessary knowledge in technology.
From 1617 to 1621, Claude lived in Naples, being a student of Gottfried Wels, and there is no doubt that this period left an indelible imprint on the future work of the artist.
It was here that the young Lorrain became interested in depicting sea and coastal landscapes, and this genre in the future took a significant place in his creative heritage.
Returning to Rome, Claude again appeared in the house of Agostino Tassi, now as one of the best students.
At twenty-five, Claude briefly returned to his homeland, where he helped paint cathedrals to Claude Derue, the court painter of the Duke of Lorraine.
From 1627 until the end of his days, the artist lived in Rome.
For some time he performed custom-made landscape frescoes, decorating cathedrals and mansions. But gradually he focused more and more on easel painting, and often spent day after day in the open air, depicting his favorite landscapes and architectural views.
Images of people were given to him, if not with difficulty, then certainly without inspiration. Rare figurines of characters on his canvases play a purely auxiliary role, and in most cases they were not painted by him, but by his assistants, friends or students.
During this period, Lorrain mastered the technique of etching and reached quite decent heights, but by the beginning of the forties, he was gradually losing interest in this technique and completely focused on landscape painting.
From the 30s, very prominent customers began to appear for him: first, the French ambassador to the papal court, then the Spanish king Philip IV, and a little later, Pope Urban VIII himself.
Claude became fashionable and popular, the demand for his works was constantly growing.
Prosperity came to the artist, he rented a three-story mansion in the center of Rome, next door to another outstanding artist, Nicolas Poussin.
Throughout his life, Claude Lorrain was never married, but in 1653 his daughter Agnes was born, and it was she who, after the death of the artist in 1682, got all his property.
Artist's work
- "Sea Harbor" (c. 1636), Louvre
- "Landscape with Apollo and Marsyas" (c. 1639), Pushkin Museum
- "Departure of St. Ursula" (1646), London, National Gallery
- "Landscape with Acis and Galatea" (1657), Dresden
- "Noon" (Rest on the flight to Egypt) (1661), Hermitage
- "Evening" (Tobius and the Angel) (1663), Hermitage
- "Morning" (Jacob and the daughters of Laban) (1666), Hermitage
- "Night" (Struggle of Jacob with an angel) (1672), Hermitage
- "View of the coast of Delos with Aeneas" (1672), London, National Gallery
- "Ascanius Hunting the Stag of Silvina" (1682), Oxford, Ashmolean Museum
- "Landscape with Dancing Satyrs and Nymphs" (1646), Tokyo, National Museum of Western Art
- "Landscape with Acis and Galatea" from the Dresden Art Gallery is one of the favorite paintings of F. M. Dostoevsky; its description is contained, in particular, in the novel "Demons".
Claude Lorrain (French Claude Lorrain; real name - Gellee or Jelly (Gellee, Gelee); 1600, Shaman, near Mirkur, Lorraine - November 23, 1682, Rome) - the famous French painter and engraver of landscapes.
Claude Loren was born in 1600 in the then independent Duchy of Lorraine (Lorrain) into a peasant family. Early became an orphan. Having received initial knowledge in drawing from his older brother, a skilled wood engraver in Freiburg, in Breisgau, in 1613-14. he went with one of his relatives to Italy. Working as a servant in the house of the landscape painter Agostino Tassi, he learned some techniques and skills. From 1617 to 1621, Lorrain lived in Naples, studied perspective and architecture with Gottfried Wels, and improved himself in landscape painting under the guidance of Agostino Tassi, one of P. Bril's students, in Rome, where after that Lorrain's whole life was spent, with the exception of two years (1625 -27) when Lorren returns to her homeland and lives in Nancy. Here he decorates the vault of the church and paints architectural backgrounds in commissioned works by Claude Derue, court painter of the Duke of Lorraine. In 1627, Lorrain again leaves for Italy and settles in Rome. There he lives until his death (1627-1682). At first, he performed custom-made decorative works, the so-called. "landscape frescoes", but later he managed to become a professional "landscape painter" and focus on easel works. In addition, Lorrain was an excellent etcher; he left etching only in 1642, finally choosing painting.
In 1637, the French ambassador to the Vatican bought two paintings from Lorrain, which are now in the Louvre: "View of the Roman Forum" and "View of the port with the Capitole". In 1639, the Spanish King Philip IV ordered Lorrain seven works (now in the Prado Museum), of which two are landscapes with hermits. Of the other customers, it is necessary to mention Pope Urban VIII (4 works), Cardinal Bentivoglio, Prince of Colonna.
The abduction of Europe. 1655. The Pushkin Museum im. A.S. Pushkin
During the Baroque era, landscape was considered a minor genre. Lorren, nevertheless, receives recognition and lives in abundance. He rents a large, three-story house in the center of the capital, not far from the Plaza de España (since 1650); from 1634 he was a member of the Academy of St. Luke (i.e. art academy). Later, in 1650, he was offered to become the rector of this Academy, Lorrain refuses such an honor, preferring a quiet job. He communicates with artists, in particular - with N. Poussin, a neighbor whom he visits often in the 1660s to drink a glass of good red wine with him.
Lorrain was unmarried, but had a daughter, Agnes, born in 1653. He bequeathed all his property to her. Lorrain died in Rome in 1682.
Lorrain's last work, "Landscape with Oskaniy Shooting a Deer" (Museum, Oxford), was completed in the year of the artist's death, and is considered a real masterpiece.
Landscape with Ascanius shooting the Sibyl Stag, 1682. Oxford. Ashmolean Museum
Landscape with the finding of Moses.1638. Prado
Judgment of Paris. 1645-1646. Washington. National Gallery
Other pictures are clickable*
Departure of the Queen of Sheba. 1648. National Gallery, London
"Sea Harbor at Sunrise" 1674. Old Pinakothek.
"Harbor with Villa Medici"
"Landscape with Shepherds (Pastoral)"
"View of Delphi with a Procession of Pilgrims" Rome, Doria Pamphili Gallery
"The siege of La Rochelle by the troops of Louis XIII"
"Egeria Lamenting Numa"
"Landscape with the Penitent Magdalene"
"Landscape with Apollo, the Muses and the River God" 1652 National Gallery of Scotland
View of the Roman Campagna from Tivoli, in the evening (1644-5)
"Landscape with David and Three Heroes"
"Easter Morning"
"Adoration of the Golden Calf"
"Landscape with the Nymph Egeria and King Numa" 1669.Galleria Nazionale di Capodimonte.
"Landscape with a shepherd and goats" 1636. London, National Gallery
"Landscape with Apollo and Mercury" 1645 Rome, Doria Pamphilj Gallery
"Departure of St. Paul in Ostia"
"Odysseus gives Chryseis to her father" 1648 Paris, Louvre
"Country Dance"
"The Arrival of Cleopatra at Tarsus" 1642, Louvre
"The Exile of Hagar"
"Acis and Galatea"
"Campo Vaccino"
"Departure of St. Ursula"
"Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebekah"
"Reconciliation of Cephalus and Procris" 1645 London, National Gallery
"Aeneas on the island of Delos" 1672 London, National Gallery
"Shepherd"
"Villa in Roman Campagna"
"Escape to Egypt"
