Claude Gellée (Claude Lorrain)

Claude Lorrain, born Claude Gellée around 1604 in Chamagne, Lorraine, France, emerged from poverty to become a renowned Baroque landscape painter. Orphaned at twelve, he lived with his brother in Freiburg, then traveled to Rome and Naples, apprenticing under artists Goffredo Wals and Augustin Tassi. He experienced numerous adversities during his early travels across Italy, France, and Germany. Lorrain returned to Rome in 1627, gaining fame and papal patronage by 1637. Unlike contemporary Nicolas Poussin, Lorrain's landscapes were the main focus of his paintings, often with figures painted by others. To combat forgeries, he created the Liber Veritatis, a record of his works. Dying in Rome on November 23, 1682, he left a legacy as a pioneering landscape artist, praised by John Constable as "the most perfect landscape painter the world ever saw." His pastoral scenes, blending nature with architecture and human activity, marked a significant shift from the traditional religious and mythological subjects of the time.