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Claude Lorraine

Born – Nancy, France 1600

Died – Rome, Italy 1682

Claude Lorraine is thought to have first trained as a pastry cool but other details of his early life remain uncertain. He lived Rome from the age of 27 and it was there that he began to produce some of the great classical landscapes on which his reputation rests. Less concerned than his contemporary Nicholas Poussin with the construction of his compositions, Claude concentrates on the evocation of mood and atmosphere. His many large compositions of biblical, mythological and pastoral subjects evince calmness and a wistful nostalgia. This is largely because of the artist’s ability to recreate soft and subtle lighting effects. Claude worked outside and made numerous studies of dawn and dusk, which are acclaimed for their free handling. He mainly conceived of his paintings in pairs. The Adoration of the Golden Calf, however, is not part of a pair. It retells the biblical story of Aaron’s construction of a heathen image, although for Claude, the spacious Roman countryside becomes the real subject of the work. Claude Lorraine was a great inspiration to other landscape artists, in particular Turner whose Dido Building Carthage was homage to the Frenchman.

Masterpieces:

• Landscape with Aeneas at Delos
• Seaport, with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba

Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.

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