Claude Lorrain

Claude Lorrain (Chamagne, Lorraine, 1600 – Rome, 1682) was a French painter of the Baroque era. By the 1630s Lorrain was well known and successful, with illustrious patrons among the French and Italian aristocracy. [1] He exerted considerable influence on landscape artists of the 18th and 19th centuries. The English painter William Turner was especially indebted to Claude, and tried to outdo his grand compositions. [2]

Claude's achievement as a pioneer in landscape painting has earned him a place in the pantheon of art history. He was widely imitated for almost two centuries, and therefore often produces in the popular imagination a feeling of déjà-vu, especially in his best-known compositions. [3]