CLAUDE GELLÉE, CALLED LE LORRAIN (1604/5-82)
A View of the Campagna from Tivoli
1645RCIN 404688
Claude’s most topographical landscape depicts the town of Tivoli and the ruins of the Villa of Maecenas to the left, with the dome of St Peter’s in Rome just visible on the horizon. This is where English travellers on the Grand Tour picnicked, observing the scene through tinted spectacles (called ‘Claude Glasses’) in order that their view might look something like this painting.
Acquired by Frederick, Prince of Wales, who also commissioned the frame
Cat. 132