Shannon Lauzier
11/16/2018
Theory and Methodology Research
A View of Delphi with a Procession
Claude Lorrain 1673
Claude Lorrain Biography
A View of Delphi with a Procession is one of Claude Lorrain’s notable landscape paintings dating back to 1673. Claude (Gellee) Lorrain was born between 1600 and 1604 in Lorraine, France begin the third of five or seven sons, this information changes between two biographers. Claude would later attend pastry school to learn a trade that would eventually take him to Rome. 1It is unclear if Claude’s parents or a relative took him to Rome, and it is unclear if his parents did indeed die when Claude was only twelve years old. Once living outside of France, Claude’s surname changed from Gellee to Lorrain in English text and would still be referred to as Gellee in France. Italian and German interpreted his name as Lorena and Lorrain.
Once living in Rome, Claude would then work in the home of Agostino Tassi as a servant and later assisting in artistic undertakings assigned by the Italian painter. Claude spent two years working with Italian painter Goffredo Wals in Naples. Claude would return to Lorraine in April 1625 to work under French painter Claude Deruet to decorate the ceiling of the church of Carmelites, but unfortunately no longer stands.
From approximately 1630 to death Claude remained in the artists’ quarters in Rome and never married, though it is theorized he had one natural daughter Agnes born in 1653, took into his care around 1659. Two nephews, Jean and Joseph, would later join Claude. His daughter and nephews would live with him in artist’ quarter in Rome until his death in 1682.
Claude Lorrain is considered one of the greatest landscape painters by Marcel Rothlisberger, who will be cited throughout this research paper, as he did many journal entries and had extensive research on the artist and his paintings. Incorporating both realism and classical, this technique came shortly after the Renaissance period and the beginning of the Baroque period. The photo A View of Delphi with a Procession is an example of his imagination for a realistic painting of unfinished buildings and people. This painting was completed in Rome, Italy and possibly France as well, as Claude traveled between the two countries.
Claude Lorrain was one of the first landscape painters to incorporate both Classicalism and Realism into his works, and this would cause a new age to landscape painting throughout the Baroque period. From sending paintings around Europe to a commissioned piece for the Pope, Claude was quickly becoming a popular name around Italy and Europe. The beginning of the Baroque period proved to cause a new age in landscape painting. Artists began taking a naturalistic approach, painting more landscapes with color and warmth, and incorporating Pagan themes. 2Agostino Tassi was one of the first painters to enrich his paintings with coastal scenes and bold rock arches. These techniques can be seen throughout Claude’s work and career, and as he lived with Tassi during his formative years as an artist, it makes sense for Tassi to have influenced Claude’s work.
3Joachim Sandrart, friend and colleague of Claude, explains the pleasure Claude and him had oil painting nature directly to the canvas. Claude embraced nature and landscape motif for his paintings, and he would look to form realism by adding dew, highlights of a sunset, and how the sun hits the trees to give the viewer a realistic view of the landscape.
The practice of landscape portrayal dates back to the early days of Impressionism. Gaspard Dughet created landscape sketches, and possibly this technique was developed in Naples. Salvator Rosa would take the inspiration from these sketches to use the naturalistic approach Sandrart and Lorrain shared. Rosa would oil paint directly onto paper, and his attention to coastal detail and countryside seen in Naples.
With these techniques learned from his influencers and artists who paved the way for landscape drawing Claude would be able to establish his style and technique. From the start, Claude’s drawings and paintings portrayed a sense of freedom and mystery throughout the landscape. As Claude would draw and paint nature, there is no real end in his painting, and the end is only seen with a frame. His attention to detail with nature caused for an endless horizon and if people are depicted in the painting, a mystery as to what their purpose is and the story behind it.
A View of Delphi with a Procession is oil paint on imperial canvas with dark green tints, blue sky with a white horizon, grey clouds and no sun. This painting is inspired by the description of Justinus, which may be the only drawing known of that depicts this piece of history. 4Justinus provides this description, “The temple of Apollo is situated on Mount Parnassus, on a rock steep on all sides… People built a town there… Not walls but precipices, not defences formed by hand but by nature protect the temple and the city… The central part of the rock falls back into the shape of an amphitheater… In the winding of the rock, about halfway up the hill, there is a small plain, and in it a deep fissure in the ground, which is open for giving oracles.” The procession in the painting is not specified to have a meaning for an exact reason for the inclusion.
Regarding the Temple shown in A View of Delphi, there is a great history behind this temple that sits on Mount Parnassos in Greece. The temple is of the Doric order, an ancient classical style of architecture. This temple went through many rebuilding's, beginning in 4 century BC and now settles as a ruin, and only has 6 of the 15 columns and the foundation of the once finished temple. As with its name, Apollo is the God that was worshipped within this temple, and this temple was a significant site for worship.
Michael Levey of the Burlington Magazine describes a beginning and end of the story that was told through the paintings. A View of Delphi with a Procession illustrated a procession was walking up a mountain to a monument in Delphi known as a place to worship the God, Apollo. Lorrain has painted new landscape portraits surrounding the Temple of Apollo, each with different points of view and figures in view. Two that are mentioned in this article include Minerva Visiting the Muses on Mount Helicon (1680) and Landscape with Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus (1652). In the book Artibus et Historiae Claire Pace includes the illustrations in her text and addresses the “dark mass” of Mount Helicon in view, this shows the evolution in Lorrain’s technique as he uses darker tones and detail used later in his career, as opposed to his lighter and more broad paintings in his earlier depictions. A View of Delphi with a Procession gives a larger landscape view with the dark tones mentioned and small attention to detail of figures.
Even though Claude Lorrain is mainly known for his landscape paintings, he did depict Paganism and Mythological beings in his paintings. In the commissioned drawing, Landscape with Tobias and the Angel completed in 1663, and this painting now resides in the British Museum in London. 6 Marcel Rothlisberger cites a letter sent by Cornelis de Wael to his patron Antonio Ruffo in Messina. Based on the information in the letter it is assumed that Antonio Ruffo was the person commissioning Claude for this painting. Among other paintings by Claude, he completed additional paintings both showing endless landscape as well as biblical figures. These include The Flight into Egypt and Jacob at the Well.
In 1663 Claude Lorrain added to a series of paintings within the theme of Psyche. Including the landscape paintings, Landscape with Psyche seated, Psyche seated outside Cupid’s Palace, and many others added to the sequence. The iconography the writer of this article reiterates is the story being portrayed throughout these paintings and their sequence. To further the approach of a broad view and limitless nature, it is implied that the Lorrain is illustrating the story but leaving room for questions and different critiques from a viewer.
The first exhibition devoted to Claude Lorrain and artists influenced by him was held at the Laing Art Gallery. This included over 75 paintings of his work and others. The landscape paintings can be described as intellectual and were not tied to theoretical terms, which was out of context for his time. Toyko National Museum of Western Art held an exhibition for Landscape paintings where Claude's work was showcased. Claude Lorrain and the Ideal Landscape. For both exhibitions, it is unclear if A View of Delphi with a Procession was displayed.
As Tassi, Wals, and Deruet influenced Claude Lorrain; he influenced landscape painters after his time. The first notable landscape painter after Claude Lorrain is Claude Joseph Vernet of France (1714-1789). Vernet had a similar path to Claude Lorrain as they both hail from France, Vernet was born in Avignon France in 1714 and studied under his father, a decorative painter. In 1734 Vernet took the similar path and moved to Italy at the age of 20 to study painting further. He later spent most of his time in Rome and Naples, following in Claude Lorrain's steps. Vernet began to look at earlier Master of Landscape painting, including Salvator Rosa, Gaspard Dughet, and of course Claude Lorrain. Vernet shared the interest of natural and realism in the same way as Claude and painted his landscapes so realistic it seemed to have no end. Vernet did move away from Rome in 1765 to return to France where he lived out the rest of his life. Vernet had an international clientele and continued to showcase his work in Salons up until the eve of the revolution.
Roethlisberger, Marcel, A Panoramic View by Claude Lorrain, Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, 1985
Roethlisberger, Marcel, Claude Lorrain Revisited, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 32, No. 63, Pgs. 104-106, 2011
Pace, Claire, Numi de’ Poeti, e Della Musica: Claude Lorrain’s Minerva Visiting Muses, Artibus et Historiae, Vol. 29, No. 57, Pgs. 125-126, 2008
Levey, Michael, The Enchanted Castle by Lorrain, The Burlington Magazine, Vol. 130, No. 1028, pgs. 812-820, 1988
Beatjer, Katherine, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014
https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clau/hd_clau.html