Landscape with a Column and Figures

Within this monumental landscape, different scenes unfold among the classical ruins. In the foreground, a figure dressed in red and yellow calls to a hesitant dog, while on the left, a shepherd blows his horn to gather the cattle and sheep rambling beneath the ruined column. By the river, two women gossip as geese and a turkey meander by their feet, a basket abandoned on the shore. A sense of a vast distance is conjured from the cool haze of the indistinct blue hills in the background, while the warmer, earthy tones in the detailed foreground draw the eye forwards. The light sky provides a foil for the darkly contrasted trees which frame the landscape, their intricate foliage creating a lacework of pattern.

The atmosphere of this landscape imitates the French painter Claude Lorrain (c.1605-82), a celebrated artist who gave credibility to the genre of landscape painting in the seventeenth century. His harmonious compositions often featured biblical or mythological themes set within an imaginary landscape infused with light. Claude was so successful that his style was frequently copied, and many forgeries were produced in his lifetime. In this painting, attributed to an artist working in Claude’s style, the compositional devices – a vista framed by trees, a body of water, a hilltop settlement and classical ruins – all show Claude’s influence, as do the small-scale figures. However, where Claude preferred classical attire for his figures, here the people are dressed in contemporary costume, showing this artist’s individual touch.