View of Delphi with a Procession
1673
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
101.6 × 127 cm (40 × 50 in.); Framed: 130.2 × 156.6 cm (51 1/4 × 61 5/8 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
43145
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This painting of the ancient city of Delphi (in what is now Greece) presents a delicate rendering of the glowing Mediterranean atmosphere. Like many other foreign artists drawn to the ruins of antiquity, French painter Claude Lorrain was fascinated with the ancient Roman Empire. Here, he evoked a serene, bucolic world akin to the poetic vision of the ancient Roman writer Virgil, depicting the ruins restored to their original glory as Claude imagined. This painting was commissioned by Cardinal Ca...
About the Artist
Claude Lorrain · 1604–1682
Claude Lorrain (c. 1600-1682), born Claude Gellée in the village of Chamagne in northeastern France's Duchy of Lorraine, stands as one of the most influential landscape painters in Western art history. Orphaned by age twelve, his journey to artistic mastery was unconventional—beginning with apprenticeships in pastry-making and inlay work before destiny led him to Rome around 1620, where he would s...