Claude Lorrain - An artist studying from Nature

• Title: An artist studying from Nature
• Artist: Claude Lorrain (c.1600-1682)
• Date: 1639
• Medium: Oil on canvas
• Dimensions: 101 x 78 cm

In “An artist studying from Nature”, Lorrain painted an imaginary harbor dominated by a large tree and a fortress, which resembles Castle of Palo, on the coast near Rome. Although born in France, Lorrain lived in Italy from about age thirteen and traveled extensively through the countryside, sketchbook in hand, like the artist in this painting.

The painting is like an ode to artists working outside two hundred years before the impressionists turned it into a must. Lorrain captured how sketching outside is a rich experience with the sunset-light, the calmness of the setting, the variety of what is to be seen (sea, mountains, boat, fortress, fishermen), and the supportive interest of onlookers.

In the middle, a pregnant woman wearing a blue dress on a donkey, like Mary going to Bethlehem, adding a layer of symbolism to the painting.