The most famous landscape artists are Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt Harmenszoon Van Rijn, Rafael Santi, Vincent Willem Van Gogh and others. One of the prominent representatives of classical landscape painters is the French artist Claude Lorren.
Landscape genre
Landscape is a genre of fine art that reflects the beauty of nature and the world around it in its original form or altered, transformed by man. The perspective, composition, way of depicting light and even air play a special role in the canvases - all these aspects together create the general mood of the picture and allow you to feel the emotions that the painter wanted to convey to the viewer.
Biography. early years
Claude Lorren (real name - Jelle) was born in about 1600, the exact date of birth is unknown. His birthplace is the Duchy of Lorraine in northeastern France, which is currently considered part of the Grand Est region.
In the 1600s, in France, the leading trend in art was classicism. The main feature of classicism is a return to the images of antiquity: a balanced, often symmetrical composition, a clear construction and clear forms of objects.
At an early age, Claude Lorren lost both parents and, having received basic drawing skills from his brother, at age 13 moved with his relatives to Italy.
Education and later life
In Italy, Lorren got a job as a servant in the house of the artist Agostino Tassi. The service at Tassi brought Claude Lorren a lot of benefit: he had a future artist learned many technical techniques of fine art. Further, Lorren adopted the experience of Gottfried Wales.
The artist lived almost all his life in Italy, only a few years (1625-1627) Claude Lorren spent in Nancy (a city on the Moselle River), where he designed the vaults of churches and custom-painted backgrounds for paintings by other artists.
Until the age of 42, Lorren painted murals and engraved. In the second half of his life, the artist focused on easel landscapes, ceasing to accept orders for engravings and frescoes.
The landscapes of Claude Lorren were bought by many famous personalities of that time - kings, princes, ambassadors and even the pope.
The painter died at 82 in Rome.
Picture "Morning"
Claude Lorren’s canvas “Morning” was painted in 1666 and is currently an exhibit of the Moscow Hermitage. In it, the artist realizes his vision for one of the biblical subjects - the meeting of Jacob and Rachel.
The picture shows Jacob grazing a flock of sheep and the daughter of Laban. Since this is a landscape, the vast majority of the area is occupied by the surrounding reality - tall trees in the center of the picture, an ancient-style temple and almost two-thirds of the sky. Three human figures allotted only a small part from below. They were not written by Lorren himself, but by his colleague, Philip Lauri.
The picture is designed in calm light tones - a typical classic landscape. A special role is played by light. One can guess that the action takes place in the morning without even knowing the name. The sun itself is not visible, it is hidden behind the trees, but its rays break through the clouds.
The morning was not chosen by chance. It symbolizes the feelings that arise between Jacob and Rachel. All this makes "Morning" the most subtle and lyrical work of Claude Lorrain.
The Abduction of Europe
The painting "The Abduction of Europe" Claude Lorren wrote in 1655. She illustrates a plot from ancient Greek mythology that tells of Europe (the daughter of King Agenor), which was stolen by the god of thunder Zeus, turning into a white bull.
This myth was very popular in the Renaissance. It was conveyed in its own way by many artists of that time: some set themselves the goal of conveying the abduction scene as accurately as possible - dynamic and exciting, while others were attracted by the environment.
Claude Lorren belonged to the second category. As in the picture "Morning", people on this canvas play an insignificant role. The basis is the image of nature and its unity with man.
When constructing the composition, the artist uses lines to delay the viewer's gaze and direct it to the necessary parts of the picture: to the mountains, the bay and ships. The primary colors are dark green and light blue, seamlessly fading into each other. The foreground and the background are inseparable, combined into a single unlimited space filled with air and light.
The canvas is imbued with deep lyrics and makes the viewer sadly thoughtful about beautiful and lofty things.
“Landscape with the penitent Mary Magdalene”
The date of creation of the painting "Landscape with the Penitent Mary Magdalene" - 1637.
Mary Magdalene is one of the followers of Jesus in the New Testament, the first to see the risen Christ and his ascension to heaven. In Orthodoxy, Mary Magdalene is called the myrrh-bearer, and in Catholicism - the repentant harlot, because before meeting with Jesus Christ she led a prodigal lifestyle, but thanks to him she repented and followed his teachings.
Claude Lorren’s canvas just illustrates this moment. It depicts Mary herself, kneeling before a crucifix and turning to God with her confession.
The painting uses typical techniques of the classical landscape - soft gentle colors characteristic of Claude Lorrain, trees in the role of wings, giving the canvas symmetry, a smooth transition of the foreground to the background.
The figure of Mary Magdalene is not located in the center, she is a bit biased. Her silhouette is highlighted by a dull glow, highlighting the heroine against a dark background of trees and creating a peculiar effect of a theatrical performance. Nature is shown harmonious and perfect. The picture looks expressive and spiritualized. Currently, it is stored in the Prado Museum, located in Spain, in Madrid.