Description
We often talk about paintings as belonging to certain genres—portraits, landscapes, history paintings, and still-lifes, among others. Looking closely at this painting, consider which category you might put it in. While it is clearly a landscape, there are also figures and other details that make it seem historical or mythological. When this was painted in 1790, a new type of artistic genre was emerging in France, called paysage historique, or historical landscape painting. By combining the widely popular historical genre (that is, paintings that depict historical events) with the less popular landscape genre, artists like Valenciennes hoped to raise the status of landscape painting in France.
Notice the dress of the three female figures in the foreground, and the classical temple that sits atop a hill in the background. Valenciennes’ work is full of references to classical culture and architecture, though, as in this example, he often mixes Greek and Roman elements to fantastical rather than realistic effect. Valenciennes is widely considered to be the founder of Neoclassical painting, a style that used Greek and Roman subjects and scenes to celebrate the glory of the past
Details
- Work Date:
- 1790
- Location:
- Cary Gallery