Landscape with a Piping Shepherd (Nascita del Sole), 1667. Claude Gellée, called Le Lorrain. Oil on canvas. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust.
Although landscape painting was deemed less important than history painting and portraiture in the 17th century, Claude was a major influence in the eventual elevation of its status. French by birth, he lived most of his life in Rome where he created timeless, idealized paintings of the Italian countryside with references to the biblical or ancient classical past. Here, a piping shepherd, nearly hidden within this classically balanced composition, recalls an Arcadian setting inspired by the Latin poetry of Virgil. This is a late work by Claude anticipating the Hudson River School and painters of the American West.
