Gessate in the Province of Milan
1834
Medium
Pencil on off-white wove paper
Dimensions
8 1/8 x 9 3/4 in. (20.7 x 24.8 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Robert Lehman Collection
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
Accession Number
1975.1.586
Tags
Art Historical Context
Camille Corot's *Gessate in the of Milan* (1834) captures the serene Italian countryside near Milan in a delicate pencil sketch on off-white wove paper Measuring just 8 1/8 x 9 3/4 inches, this intimate drawing likely served as a quick study during or inspired by Corot's travels Italy, showcasing his keen eye for landscapes featuring bridges and natural vistas. Tags like "Bridges" and "scapes" highlight its focus on everyday rural scenes, rendered with soft, fluid lines that evoke the hazy atmosphere of the Lombard plains. As a master of the Barbizon school and a bridge to Impressionism, Coro...
About the Artist
Camille Corot · 1796–1875
Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, born in Paris on July 16, 1796, into a prosperous bourgeois family—his father a former wig maker turned draper, his mother a successful milliner—initially resisted his artistic calling. After a lackluster education at the Lycée Pierre-Corneille in Rouen and failed apprenticeships in business, he abandoned commerce at age 26, thanks to a generous parental allowance foll...