Heroic Landscape (recto); Sketches of Cassoni, Figures, and Clouds (verso)

Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée) (French, 1604–1682)

Date1655−58

MediumPen, iron-gall ink, brown wash, gray wash and white heightening on laid paper

Dimensions11 7/8 × 15 11/16 in. (30.1 × 39.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchased by The Frick Collection, 1982

Accession number1982.3.124

Commentary

By applying wash in different densities and leaving areas of the paper untouched, Claude produces a wide range of tones, from the deep shadows of the foreground to the gleaming surface of the sea in the distance. The light and the movement of the figures, birds, and clouds convey a sense of impending drama. The drawing contains the initial idea for a painting of a biblical story, for which Claude constructs an appropriately magnificent, awe-inspiring landscape.

Collection History

Inventoried in 1713 in the collection of the later Prince Don Livio Odescalchi. Collection of a Polish family (1845). Swiss collection (1939). Georges Wildenstein, 1960. Norton Simon, 1968. Eugene V. Thaw, New York, about 1980. Frick, 1982.

Source: The Frick Collection: Drawings, Prints & Later Acquisitions. Volume IX. New York: The Frick Collection, 2003.

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