Capriccio with Figures in a Landscape, 18th Century; Follower of Claude Lorrain (C.1600-1682)

Exquisite capriccio of classical ruins. The work has been painted to a monumental scale and depicts classical ruins in the foreground, with temple ruins on a hill beyond a meandering Italian river. The entire scene is illuminated by a beautiful golden light during a balmy summer eve – a treatment commonly used by the master artist Claude Lorrain. The artist, recorded sitting on a portable stool, is sketching ruins whilst on his Grand Tour and is provided shade by his assistant who is stood nearby. The extensive view has been painted during the 18th century and to a huge scale; it is possible that it was an exhibition entry. It is also possible that the inspiration for this painting was taken from another.

This type of scene was very popular amongst 18th century artists and collectors who wanted to record the topographical settings they visited during their “Grand Tour”. The Grand Tour which is most commonly thought to have occured c.1550 up to 1850, was a journey to primarily France and Italy to improve the sartorial, social and cultural awareness of well-born young men and to enable them to make useful contacts and to introduce them to foreign lands and cultures. It was hugely influential in terms of Britain’s cultural, social, political, architectural, gastronomic, sartorial and artistic evolution. Among its many and far-reaching influences, it fuelled the transformation of Britain’s finest historic houses and provided much of their contents, defined the syllabi of many English preparatory schools, and introduced the authoritative architectural language of neoclassicism to British governmental and institutional buildings. Since there were few museums anywhere in Europe before the close of the eighteenth century, Grand Tourists often saw paintings and sculptures by gaining admission to private collections, and many were eager to acquire examples of Greco-Roman and Italian art for their own collections. Many Scottish and English aristocrats bought the work of Claude Lorrain and Claude exerted considerable influence on landscape artists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Turner was especially indebted to Claude, and tried to outdo his grand compositions.

Most men went for two months but some for many years. This was an expected event in the early lives of the upper classes and viewed as mandatory to a individuals maturity. Grand Tourists were keen to record what they saw and would sketch the sights themselves. This was a period, after all, when all educated English men and women were taught how to draw – the notion of picking up a pencil or pen was a natural one. Ricard Wilson is known for example to have made drawings of Italian places while traveling with the earl of Dartmouth in the mid 18th century. It was also popular for these “tourists” to have their portrait taken and so the employment of local artists to carry this out was common (the Italian vistas were commonly incorporated into the background of them). They were accompanied by a teacher or guardian and usually incorporated Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Naples. After acquiring a coach in Calais, they would ride on to Paris where they would replace their entire wardrobe (in fact they would acquire everything new - cleanliness, clothes, boots, wigs, handkerchiefs, and possibly earrings).

From an inscised stamp on the reverse of the stretcher we know that the painting passed through the studio of the London picture liner, cleaner, and restorer John Jones (c.1842-c.1900) sometime between 1880 (when Jones setup business) and his death c.1900.

Claude Lorrain (or Gellée) was born in the Duchy of Lorraine but left around 1612 for Germany, then Rome, where he became a studio assistant to the landscapist Agostino Tassi. He visited Naples and returned to Nancy before settling permanently in Rome around 1628. He sketched in the Roman countryside with

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