CLAUDE LORRAIN
(b. 1604, Chamagne, d. 1682, Roma)

Landscape with the Voyage of Jacob

1677
Oil on canvas, 71 x 95 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

This landscape, with its winding river, elegant trees, and grand castle, is an idealized vision of the countryside near Rome, where Claude spent most of his career. All of the artist's landscapes include narrative subjects: in this case, Jacob's journey to the land of Canaan. The tiny camels on the right hint at the biblical story, but the painting is essentially a celebration of nature at its most poetic.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.