Claude LorrainArticle Free Pass Claude Lorrain, byname of Claude
Gellée (born 1600, Chamagne, France—died Nov. 23, 1682, Rome
[Italy]), French artist best known for, and one of the greatest
masters of, ideal landscape painting, an art form that seeks to
present a view of nature more beautiful and harmonious than
nature itself. The quality of that beauty is governed by
Classical concepts, and the landscape often contains Classical
ruins and pastoral figures in Classical dress. The source of
inspiration is the countryside around Rome—the Roman Campagna—a
countryside haunted with remains and associations of antiquity.
The practitioners of ideal landscape during the 17th century,
the key period of its development, were artists of many
nationalities congregated in Rome. Later the form spread to
other countries. Claude, whose special contribution was the
poetic rendering of light, was particularly influential, not
only during his lifetime but, especially in England, from the
mid-18th to the mid-19th century. Life a