View of Tivoli at Sunset
- Date of Creation:
- 1644
- Medium:
- Oil
- Support:
- Canvas
- Subject:
- Landscapes
- Art Movement:
- Baroque
- Created by:
View of Tivoli at Sunset Story / Theme
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View of Tivoli at Sunset
Claude Lorrain's View of Tivoli at Sunset is a gorgeous, idealized depiction of the ancient Italian town of Tivoli. Situated around thirty kilometers out of Rome, Tivoli boasts some of the nations' finest ancient ruins and Renaissance palaces, including the Villa Adriana, Roman emperor Hadrian's residence of choice, and the magnificent Villa d'Este, constructed in 1550 atop an ancient Roman monument.
Tivoli was a popular tourist spot during Claude's lifetime in the 17th century, and continues to be one today, both for its history and its rugged vistas and beautiful view of the city of Rome. Claude Lorrain was particularly enamored by the site, and in fact depicted Tivoli in paintings or drawing at least 30 times.
During the 1640s, Claude was painting for a wide variety of patrons. These included Rome's most elite (like Giulio Rospigliosi and Philip IV, King of Spain), local and foreign nobility, and wealthy tourists looking for a lovely souvenir.
View of Tivoli at Sunset Analysis
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View of Tivoli at Sunset
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View of Tivoli at Sunset
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View of Tivoli at Sunset
Claude's View of Tivoli at Sunset continues in the same trend as his earlier paintings of the subject, shown above. This breathtakingly lovely landscape scene is most notable for the following qualities;
Light:
Claude Lorrain was a master of light and the glowing luminosity of View of Tivoli at Sunset is simply breathtaking. This view of twilight is cast in delicate tones of orange and lilac, and the misty, almost otherworldly light ensures a moving, nostalgic tone.
Atmospheric perspective:
Claude was a master of atmospheric perspective, or the technique of creating the illusion of distance or depth by changing the color, scale, and handling of objects in the background of a painting. The rules of perspective hold that the further away an object is from the viewer, the smaller and less distinct it appears.
Claude was skilled in both atmospheric perspective and linear perspective, techniques which allowed him to create seemingly deep, three-dimensional space.
Animals:
Claude was a great lover of animals; an entire album of animal sketches is attributed to this French Baroque painter, and Claude is known to have executed at least 50 sketches of cows alone. The relationship of herdsmen to their animals seems to have been a subject close to Claude's heart, perhaps in part due to his own humble beginnings as a peasant boy in rural northern France.
In View of Tivoli at Sunset, the foreground figures consist of a group of shepherds herding some sluggish cows and sprightly goats, a mastiff quick on their heels. Claude's human figures are often criticized as being curiously formed, even poorly-drawn, but his depiction of the animals is nothing less than masterful.
View of Tivoli at Sunset Related Paintings
View of Tivoli at Sunset Artist
Claude Lorrain's paintings are absolute points of reference in the genre of landscape. Building on the foundation laid for him by artists like Titian and Paul Bril, Lorrain was the bold leader of the 17th century ideal landscape. Although landscape painting was long perceived as a "lesser" genre, Lorrain achieved enormous success in his own lifetime, and continued to exert a powerful influence on French and English painting for centuries after his death.
The casual observer may assume that all of Claude's paintings are more or less the same; they are all landscapes, after all. A closer look, however, reveals that there was a real evolution both in the style and composition of Claude's paintings throughout his career.
The 1640s saw a real shift in Claude Lorrain's painting production. After the bustling activity of the previous decade, during this period Claude began to slow down. He reduced his patrons to only the most elite, and began painting fewer, but much larger, more intricate paintings. Having lived in Rome for over ten years by now, the northern style that had informed Claude's earlier paintings was replaced by an Italianate classicism borrowed from Bolognese landscape painters Annibale Carracci and Domenichino.
Claude Lorrain's paintings are perfect examples of the genre known as the idealized landscape and are simultaneously rooted in a strong naturalism, but beautified and idealized; Claude never shows the world's harsh realities, but instead a perfect image of nature as it should be.
View of Tivoli at Sunset Art Period
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Salvator Rosa
Claude Lorrain was one of the great painters of the French Baroque. Like his contemporary and close friend Nicolas Poussin, however, Claude actually spent the majority of his life and career in Rome, not in France; nonetheless, Claude's early childhood in the tumultuous region of la Lorraine would undoubtedly have had an effect on the artist. Along with Poussin, Claude helped to define the classicizing tendencies of French Baroque art.
Claude's style and subjects are perhaps more consistent throughout his oeuvre than those of virtually any other artist, but that is not to say that there is no evolution in Claude's paintings. On the contrary, a careful look at his works reveals a rather surprising artistic journey.
Claude's early paintings are steeped in the northern European landscape tradition, complete with charming picturesque details and compositional surprises. As is unsurprising for an artist who studied and worked in Rome, however, as Claude matured his paintings became increasingly classical in tone and theme.
The later works are cooler and more idealized, and exude a more melancholy, wistful atmosphere than the more cheerful, bustling early pictures.
Claude had some immediate followers in Italy and France in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (most notably his pupil, Angeluccio, Salvatore Rosa, and Claude Joseph Vernet), but his greatest influence was felt in England. Claude's paintings impacted all aspects of English culture, from literature to garden design, and English artists were by no means immune to this influence. Claude's most important English disciples include the phenomenal Romantic artists J. M.W. Turner, John Constable, and Samuel Palmer.
View of Tivoli at Sunset Bibliography
To read more about Claude Lorrain please choose from the following recommended sources.
• Askew, Pamela, ed. Claude Lorrain: 1600-1682: a symposium. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 1984
• Grahame, George. Claude Lorrain, Painter and Etcher. Seeley and Co. , 1895
• Lagerlöf, Margaretha Rossholm Ideal Landscape: Annibale Carracci, Nicolas Poussin, and Claude Lorrain. Yale University Press, 1990
• Mannocci, Lino. The Etchings of Claude Lorraine. Yale University Press, 1988
• Rand, Richard. Claude Lorrain: The Painter as Draftsman. Yale University Press, 2007
• Röthlisberger, Marcel. Claude Lorrain: The Paintings. Hawker Art Books, 1979
• Russell, Helen Diane. Claude Lorrain, 1600-1682. Washington : National Gallery of Art, 1982
• Wine, H. Claude : The Poetic Landscape. London: National Gallery, 1994