COROT AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY TRAVELLERS IN ITALY

COROT AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY TRAVELLERS IN ITALYAuthor(s): Daniel D. ReiffSource: Nineteenth-Century French Studies, Vol. 15, No. 1/2 (Fall-Winter 1986-87), pp. 46-61Published by: University of Nebraska PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23532416 .

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COROT AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY

TRAVELLERS IN ITALY

Daniel D. Reiff

The paintings of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot which were most popular during

his lifetime were, as is well known, his large salon pieces which often depicted

mythological or Biblical subjects,1 and his later landscapes which evoked tran

quil memories of Italian lakes. It is the soft silvery-gray, light green, and purple

hue of these works, the landscapes in particular,2 that has become the popular

trademark of Corot's style.

But it is his studies and sketches, done in Italy during his trips of 1825-28, 1834, and 1843—and to a lesser extent sketches from his travels in France

during the intervals—that have appealed even more strongly to twentieth

century tastes.3 These studies were not exhibited by Corot until 18494 and

thus did not have the same influence that his other works did; but we see

them today, with their architectonic clarity of form and creation of space

through carefully arranged planes of buildings in brilliant sunlight, as precur

sors of the re-examination of formal space that Paul Cézanne would undertake

fifty years later. And to our eyes, conditioned to appreciate formal qualities

more than sentiment, the sketches often have a greater appeal than the later,

more ambitious landscapes.

Both of these modes of painting, though primarily his late style, had a con

siderable influence on the Impressionists—the concern with light, effects of

atmosphere, the acceptance (as the Barbizon painters as a whole) of pure land

scape as an appropriate end of painting, the concern with subtle color. Corot's

prestige, and friendship with some of the early Impressionists, certainly aug

mented this influence.

For these reasons—understanding the nature of the works, and his impor

tance as an artistic force—a fuller knowledge of how he developed these two

rather different approaches in his landscapes is desirable. While it is generally

accepted that the blocky studies do reflect his experience of the Italian light,

the extent that this is true can be made much clearer. And the gray-green hue,

which is found becoming dominant in the 1840's, though usually attributed

to a parallel investigation of the more subdued light of France, can also be

shown to lie most firmly in his Italian experience.

46



Daniel D. Reiff 47

That the light and the color of the parts of Italy were indeed unique to the

eyes of visitors from northern Europe is suggested by Corot's paintings them

selves; but it can be more positively affirmed by examining how other travel

lers in Italy, at this same period, responded to the environment they found.

By examining first some of the reasons Corot, and then nineteenth-century

travellers in general, went to Italy, and listing some of their parallel interests,

this congruency can be brought out. Then, by studying Corot's treatment

of architectonic form in his works of the 1820's, and then his interest in

misty, subdued gray-green color in the 1830's—and in both cases drawing

parallels from the writing of travellers—we can come to some assessment of

the influence of Italy upon his art.

There are a number of reasons why Corot went to Italy in the first place,

and briefly mentioning some of the main points will help explain his later

interests.5 A major reason for his first trip to Italy, which lasted from late

1825 to early 1828, was the he had just turned full-time painter, after winning

his parents' approval in 1822; and after a few years' work in France the logical

next step was Italy, the mecca since the eighteenth century for artists desiring

to find grand landscape, as well as study the masters of the past. Furthermore,

he had studied with landscapists of the classical bent, Achille-Etna Michallon

and Jean-Victor Bertin, and come in contact with other artists with "classicist

tendencies" in France;6 it is not surprising, therefore, that for these reasons

he would want to travel to the land where Poussin and Claude had worked. A

third reason is that his early works, such as the Entrée du Parc de Saint-Cloud

of ca. 1823-24,7 show his interest in both architectural subjects of simple

clear forms, and crisp lighting—qualities which could be explored more fully

in the south.

A final reason for his trip to Italy must, however, be of a more personal

nature. As is well known, Corot was of an especially poetic nature, and his

entire tranquil life is parallel to his calm and loving treatment of his subjects.

With a growing emphasis on a personal and emotional response to landscape

during this period, seen in many of the Barbizon painters as well, it is not

surprising that Corot would be especially drawn to Italy, a land both rich in

historical and artistic associations, and full of the most varied and beautiful

scenery. Though the overtly "poetic" and reverie qualities are strongest in

his later works, Corot's delight in a beautiful country rich in associations is

certainly present in his early works as well.

Corot's reasons for his trip to Italy were largely artistic, with further inter

est in the beauty of the country and its climate. For most of the many Euro



48 Nineteenth-Century French Studies

pean travellers who began coming In greater and greater numbers after the

turn of the century, the ingredients, if in different proportions, were much

the same. Italy had, of course, been a mecta during the latter half of the eight

eenth century for the educated traveller, who could trace the sites mentioned

in the classical authors he had been raised on; could explore the classical ruins

which, after the writings of Winckelmann and the discoveries of Pompeii,8

were given greater attention than ever; could see at firsthand the great Renais

sance masters; and delight in the artistic and cultural life of the cities.9 But In

the nineteenth century more people of modest means began to travel to Italy,

and their attention was directed more and more to an appreciation of the

landscape; the views of—and from—cities, hills, and promontories; and the

light, colors, and atmospheric effects. This new emphasis on landscape, appre

ciated with a heightened "poetic sensibility," was given considerable impetus

by Anne Radcliffe's popular Mysteries of Udoipho, published in 1794, which

is full of vividly described accounts of the Italian scene.10 Thus, to the tradi

tional interest in the art and archeology of the country, a more immediate

and evocative interest in the landscape, and In atmospheric effects, was now

prominent.

These, and other interests, are clearly seen in the many travel accounts

published at this time. One writer whose account can be used especially well as

a parallel to what Corot saw is Mrs. Anna Jameson. Her Diary of an Ennuyée,

published in 1826 and based on atrip made in 1821-22, is almost contempo

raneous with Corot's first visit. Furthermore, it is consciously and consist

ently poetic and "romantic" in its observation of landscape.11 This Is the

same Mrs. Jameson who later wrote so perceptively on a wide range of artistic

subjects in Italian art,12 so we can put greater faith in both her accuracy of

observation, and exactness of documenting what she saw, than we might in

some other writer.13 In addition, observations from travel books by James

Cobbett, visiting Italy in 1828-29, Henry Tuckerman, in the early 1830's, and

Paul Lacroix, in 1839, will be quoted as well.14

In addition to these general parallel Interests of the traveller and the paint

er in Italy in this period, other specific, or more personal, reasons come out in

the writings of Corot—and in his works of art—and in the travel accounts men

tioned above.

Both artist and traveller found in Italy a country perfect for indulging a

poetic or sensitive nature, delighting in the scenery, and above all, expressing

a direct and immediate appreciation of the setting. Corot naturally, like other

travellers, enjoyed such trips: "Que c'est beau les voyages!" Corot exclaimed;

"Voir de ses yeux ce que les livres apprennent si imparfaitement!"15 His



Daniel D. Reiff 49

delight in his surroundings was spontaneous: "Tout en cherchant l'imitation

consciencieuse, je ne perds pas un instant l'émotion qui m'a saisi."16 Nine

teenth-century travellers also expressed this sensibility to the surroundings,

to buildings, to places:

C'était donc dans les jardins de cette villa . . . que je passais des journées entières à lire

et à rêver, au murmure des cascades et sous l'ombrage des dernières feuilles, qui sem

blaient prêtes à se ranimer et à reverdir aux doux rayons du soleil de novembre.17

In addition, both Corot and many of the nineteenth-century travellers

were distressed by the political disturbances and revolutions in Europe. Corot

always avoided politics throughout his life, and during the revolution of 1830,

left Paris for calmer cities in rural France.18 His various trips to Italy were

also undoubtedly for a salubrious change of political climate. Anna Jameson

put it succinctly: "How I detest politics and discord!"19 Many travellers going

to Italy for their health implied that their illnesses somehow directly sprang

from the troubled air of Europe.

A third factor was the appeal of the ruins and monuments themselves.

Although Corot did not look on the ruins of Rome in the same romantic and

dramatic manner as most travellers, they were important to him in another

way, as befits a classically-trained painter: the ruins were almost an end

in themselves, perfect masses and forms to be captured in his studies and

sketches. For the travellers, these ruins, calling up a romantic past, were also

vehicles—to higher planes of fancy and imagination. "This part of old Rome

is beautiful beyond description," writes Anna Jameson, "and has a wild, deso

late and poetical grandeur which affects the imagination like a dream"20—this

sort of effusion generally being a prelude to a discourse on the nobility (or

perfidy) of the ancients.

But clearly, the major parallel in the interests of Corot and travellers in

Italy was the landscape and scenery, be it the brilliantly lighted campagna of

Rome, studded with ancient ruins and rocky outcroppings, or the serene lakes

and verdant hills of the north. Corot and the travellers, used to the scenery

of northern Europe, were fascinated by the new landscapes, and a richer more

direct beauty. Corot, certainly, was always especially attuned to the beauties

of nature:

Après mes excursions, j'invite la nature à venir passer quelques jours chez moi. C'est alors

que commence ma folie. Le pinceau à la main, je cherche des noisettes dans les bois de

mon atelier. J'y entends chanter les oiseaux, les arbres frissonner sous le vent, j'y vois

couler ruisseaux et rivières chargés des mille reflets du ciel et de la terre.21




And this love of nature, in combination with his poetic, lyric sensitivity, was

an important factor in deciding his artistic creed:

Le beau dans l'art, c'est la vérité baignée dans l'impression que nous avons reçue à l'as

pect de la nature. ... Le réel est une partie de l'art; le sentiment, complète. Sur la nature, cherchez d'abord la forme . . .,22

This love of beauty, and of unspoiled nature, is frequently found in the travel

accounts; a passage by Anna Jameson is particularly felicitous:

We left Florence this morning; and saw the sun rise upon a country so enchantingly beau

tiful that I dare not trust myself to description . . .[of] the soft and varied character of

the scenery, comprising every species of natural beauty, the rugged fantastic rocks, culti

vated plains, and the sparkling rivers.23

Even James Cobbett, who was usually content to note the nature of cultiva

tion of each area, the lack of butter in each successive town, and the highest

daily temperature, could observe in a flurry of esthetic exuberance: "the

extensive views of the sea and coast... are quite magnificent; and all the

charms that the imagination can anticipate of the Mediterranean and its tran

quil shores are realized here."24

With these parallels between the interests and sensibilities of Corot and

other travellers in Italy, we can turn our attention to the two most distinctive

aspects of Corot's Italian paintings: first the brilliant light, clarity of form,

and prismatic solidity of his compositions, largely architectural in subject,

done mainly in and around Rome on his first voyage; and then the distinc

tively muted gray-green and silvery tonality, and softer outlines he uses in his

landscapes, done mainly in northern Italy, on his second trip.

The sketches and studies that Corot did in and around Rome in 1825-28

have a geometric and structural clarity, a sense of solidness and simplicity

of form that, as mentioned, was at least present in his art before his trip to

Italy. But here the forms became even more exact, are not simply a classicist

formula but "qualities of the spirit of the landscape itself."25 At first these

studies seem unfinished in their lack of detail, as if the broad masses and

outlines had first been sketched in, and the rest added later. They are like

works done at—or reproducing the effect of—a glance, in which the details are

simply not seen. Corot himself stated:

J'ai remarqué que tout ce qui était fait du premier coup était plus franc, plus joli de

forme ... ; tandis que lorsqu'on revient, on perd souvent cette teinte harmonieuse primi tive. ... Je ne suis jamais pressé d'arriver au détail; les masses et le caractère d'un tableau

m'intéressent avant tout.26



Daniel D. Reiff 51

And, in a way, the scope and extent of these studies, from views of buildings

to landscape panoramas, preclude detail, the largeness of the view making de

tails unimportant in the total impact. The lack of detail can also be accounted

for by the very nature of the buildings—vernacular structures, most often,

with simple blocky units and plain plastered walls. The buildings and the land

scape setting in these studies blend together with a certain geometric unity or

even congruency—and since the remnants of ancient Rome actually do come

from the earth, both materially and archeologically, a nice consistency is

developed!

Obviously, the role of light in these works is all-important. In its brilliance

and evenness it creates the clear, sharp edges of the buildings and land forms;

and its brightness blots out the finer details that one might find at closer

inspection. The light almost has an existence of its own, in its convincing bril

liance. "Of all Corot's abundance of pictorial means light is the richest.... It

appears as the counterpart of matter."27

Turning to some of his Roman landscapes we can see more clearly these

distinctive features. In his Isle of San Bartolomeo of 1826 (Fig. 1), the first

element, the geometrical and solid forms of buildings and land, is seen most

sharply. This treatment of form is also found in the more famous Bridge of

Caste/ Sant' Angelo of 1826-27 (Fig. 2). Here, in the form-creating light, the

mass of the bridge joining the two banks stands out clearly; it is buttressed

visually by the simple houses on the left, which seem to grow out of the very

bank, and by the cylindrical tomb at the right, which in its horizontal bands

even continues the sense of horizontal strata of the bank of the river below

it. This quality of form, which we see so clearly in Corot's works, was com

mented upon by the artist himself in a letter of 1840: "Vous voilà maintenant

à Rome, ville incomparable par la sévérité et grandeur des lignes."28 This geo

metrical clarity of the architectural forms around Rome was also commented

upon by Mrs. Jameson: "The outlines of every building [and] ruin . . . were

... distinctly marked, and stood out so brightly to the eye!"29 Various of the

ruins around Rome would, naturally, lend themselves especially well to this

simple geometrical massing, their architectural details lost to the ravages of

time. And some forms, such as the Claudian aqueducts on the barren campa

gna (Fig. 3), which Corot painted in 1826 or 1827, lend themselves especially

well, by their very simplicity of form and inherent geometry, to his treatment.

The simple forms stand alone in the barren campagna, the shadowed angles of

the foreground bluffs repeating the pattern of light and dark across the com




position. The writers, too, were impressed by these isolated monuments. While

Cobbett dismissed them as "straggling ruins," Mrs. Jameson waxed eloquent:

"To the right were the ruins of the stupendous Claudian Aqueduct with its

gigantic arches stretching away ... far into the campagna;... all this... is a

scene of magnificent desolation."30

Of course it was the pellucid light of central Italy which brought these

forms into such sharp relief. This sense of a clear brilliant atmosphere we can

see in Corot's paintings especially well in the regions around Rome, as in the

campagna view noted above, or his work View of Olevano of 1827 (Fig. 4),

or almost any work one would care to choose from this period. If further evi

dence of his enchantment with the light of Italy were needed, we could also

quote from his own letters of this period: "ce soleil répand une lumière déses

pérante pour moi. Je sens toute l'impuissance de ma palette ... ."31 And this

unique clarity of atmosphere, which made all forms and colors so much more

distinct, was ably observed by travellers. To quote Mrs. Jameson: "There is

in this climate a prismatic splendor, ... a glorious all-embracing light, a vidid

distinctness of outline."32 In Rome itself she noted her fascination for "this

genial sunshine, this elastic atmostphere, which not only brings the distant

landscape, but almost Heaven itself, near to the eye."33 And again: "I enjoy

the brilliant skies and the delicious purity of the air, which leaves the eye free

to wander over a vast extent of space."34

In addition to the clear forms and brilliant light, a third element that Corot

conveys in his studies, and which was observed also by travellers, was, as men

tioned above, the way in which the ruins and buildings seemed to blend into

the very earth, not stand distinctly away from it. Corot's view of the Isle of

San Bartolomeo (Fig. 1), cited above, is a particularly good example. One that

is more complex, in using more overlapping of forms and a surround of foli

age, is his view of the Colosseum of 1826 (Fig. 5). It looms, somewhat darkly, above the surrounding buildings and ruins, yet is part of them. It was, certain

ly, a monument all tourists commented upon, impressed not only with its

bulk and size, but also by the fact that it was overgrown with plants, giving it

an even greater sense of integration with the earth! As Mr. Cobbett informs

us, "some French lady has published a work relating entirely to the shrubs

and plants which grow on these ruins."35 Obviously, this blending of the

buildings with landscape was more pronounced in country villages nestled in

valleys, such as in Corot's View of Olevano (Fig. 4) in which the buildings appear to be almost another outcropping in the hilly landscape. Cobbett

observed that the epitome of the Italian village was one "gradually losing

itself amongst gardens, and vineyards, and groves of olives, and fields of

corn."36



Daniel D. Reiff 53

A final aspect of Corot's sketches which should be mentioned is the total

lack of figures. Actually, this can be explained by the purpose of the studies:

to record the basic forms and views which he could later draw on for his stu

dio pieces, at which time he would insert people for proper scale and pictur

esque detail. In a second, more "polished" version of the view of the Castel

Sant' Angelo (Fig. 2) this is exactly what he did.37 But the lack of figures in

his studies nevertheless does create a particular mood of desolation, of soli

tude, and a certain abstraction which is certainly appropriate for the way in

which Corot has given the studies a timeless existence. It is as though a figure,

as a transitory object, would have no place in the grave and majestic composi

tions of pure form; figures were not part of the structure. But in fact, Mrs.

Jameson noted on several occasions that in Rome particularly, there were

simply few people about in many of the places they visited. "All this part of

Rome is a scene of magnificent desolation ... ; its wildness, .. . its waste and

solitary openness add to its effect upon the imagination. The only human

beings I beheld in the compass of at least two miles, were a few herdsmen driv

ing their cattle through the Gate of San Giovanni."38 On another occasion, en

tering Rome through the gate of the Lateran, she observed: "I was struck by

the emptiness and stillness of the streets contrasted with those of Naples."39

In the hills surrounding Rome she also observed that everything was "per

fectly still" and serene.

Thus all these features—the form, light, blending of building with land, and

the lack of human presence—were distinctive enough to be commented upon

by travellers in Rome at the same time as Corot. Some of his paintings seem

to combine all the factors felicitously, such as his View of the French Acad

emy of 1826 (Fig. 6). Here the sense of vast distance in a limpid atmosphere,

buildings solidly modelled by a soft yet clear light, a sense of quietude—all

speak clearly. From a similar elevated spot, Mrs. Jameson described what she

observed:

The view of Rome from these gardens is superb;. . . the atmosphere was perfectly pure

and clear; the eye took in the whole extent of ancient and modern Rome .... The city

lay at our feet, silent, and clothed with the daylight as with a garment; no smoke, no

vapor, no sound, no motion, no sign of life . . .,40

Just as these distinctive aspects of the landscape and climate of central

Italy were commented upon by travellers, and were recorded with special fidel

ity by Corot, so the northern part of Italy, with its own distinctive aspects,

made its impact on Corot's art. During his 1825-28 voyage, Corot had spent

most of his time in the region around Rome,41 but during 1834 he stayed in

the north and visited mainly the lake district.42




The north had quite different qualities from the south; the air and the

light were softer, and the coloration of the area more gentle. Furthermore,

the areas Corot visited—the lakes in particular—were quite different from the

Roman views of ruins or blocky towns.

The effect of this northern atmosphere on the art of Corot is clear from

his works. The outlines and forms of his sketches done in the north are softer

and the colors more muted; the light is still clear, but without southern harsh

ness. His well-known View of Volterra of 1838 (Fig. 7), done from sketches

of 1834, gives some indication of this softening of effect. Mrs. Jameson, as

one would expect, also observed the softer light of the north: "The whole

landscape was at one time overflowed with . . . sunshine; and appeared as if

seen through an impalpable but dazzling veil."43

The distinctive color that we find in Corot's works with greater and greater

frequency in the later part of his career—culminating in the 1850's with his

turning to his Italian "Souvenir" paintings with their gray, green and silvery

qualities—can also be traced to the lake region. This distinctive coloration of

the north was noted by many writers. Olive trees, of course, provide much

of this distinctive gray and silvery hue. One traveller wrote that at night,

"the moon seemed to shine with peculiar charm upon ... the pale grey of the

olive."44 The same writer noted that in one area "heath and a greyish kind of

moss are the sole vegetation"45 which covered the ground.

Naturally, at sunrise or sunset, the air in the north would take on a richer

tint than would be seen in the south. Mrs. Jameson also noted the muted

colors of the north and made the following observation as they approached

Florence one evening:

Floating over the whole of the Val d'Arno and the lovely hills which enclose it [was] a

mist ... which gradually, as the day declined, faded, or rather deepened into purple;

then I first understood all the enchantment of an Italian landscape.46

Lakes were to have a special place in Corot's later works, and the charm

and beauty of the Italian lakes he visited in 1834 undoubtedly made a lasting

impression. The softer northern light gave the verdant shores the sort of evoc

ative beauty that Corot called up in his later works, such as his Souvenir of

CasteI Gondolfo, done in 1864 (Fig. 8). The poetic beauty of the lakes was

observed by Anna Jameson as well: "The lake seemed to slumber in the sun

shine;. .. the two little woody islands and the undulating hills enclosing the

whole . . . made it look like a scene fit only to be peopled by fancy's fairest

creations."47 And this is, of course, exactly what Corot did in so many of his

later views of Italian lakes, peopling their shores with nymphs, satyrs, shep

herds, and other mythological merry-makers.



Daniel D. Reiff 55

From this examination we can see, therefore, that many of the qualities

that are so distinctive in the paintings of Corot, and which were to be consist

ently employed in his later work, had their roots in his Italian experiences

in his youth.48 And while the Italian voyage did not perhaps create these

elements totally new (his concern with form we know was established even

before his southern trip), Italy undoubtedly presented to his sensitive obser

vation—as it had to travellers at the same time—effects of light and form and

color which confirmed and inspired his artistic development.

Art Department

State University of New York

College at Fredonia

Fredonla, NY 14063 USA

I am indebted to Mark W. Roskill for his encouragement with an earlier draft of this

study. 1. Early examples of these are Agar dans le désert (Robaut Number 362) of 1834-35,

displayed in the Salon of 1 835 ; Saint Jérôme (R. 366) of 1837, and in the Salon of that

year; La Fuite en Egypte (R. 369) in the Salon of 1840; and Silène (R. 368) of 1838, and in the Salon of the same year. The fullest corpus of Corot's work is Alfred Robaut

and Etienne Moreau-Nélaton, L'Œuvre de Corot (Paris: Léonce Laget, 1965) in five

volumes, of which vols. 2 and 3 are the catalogue raisonné of his paintings. 2. The predominantly misty works began to be exhibited about 1 850, such as his La

Danse des nymphes (R. 1061 ) of 1850, exhibited in that year's Salon; but the style had

been developed several years earlier for larger works. His Chevrier italien (effet du soir)

(R. 608) of 1 847 is a good example, as is the smaller Petit Etang avec un berger. . . (R.

612) of 1846.

3. His many figure studies have also become far more appreciated in recent years.

4. A study of the Colosseum done in 1 827 was exhibited in the Salon of 1849; Rob

ert L. Herbert, Barbizon Revisited (Boston: Museum of Fine Arts, 1962) 39.

5. Biographical and other data on Corot are found in L'Œuvre de Corot, esp. vol. 1,

and in other standard works cited below.

6. Fritz Novotny, Painting and Sculpture in Europe: 1780 to 1880 (Baltimore: Pen

guin Books, 1960) 106.

7. R. 14; his early interest in architectural forms is clear even at this early date. Of

the 41 works listed in the Robaut catalogue as prior to his trip to Rome in 1825, at least

14 are specifically architectural, and many, of course, have buildings or towns within the

landscapes (2: 8-15). 8. Johann Winckelmann's major work, Gedanken über die Nachahmung der Greichi

schen Werke in der Malerei und BUdhauerkunst, first appeared in 1755. He also wrote

about the eighteenth-century excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii, which had been

rediscovered in 1748.

9. A particularly interesting account of late eighteenth-century artistic and cultural

life in Italy (Rome especially) is found in Johann W. von Goethe's Italian Journey (1786

1788), trans. W.H. Auden and Elizabeth Mayer (New York: Schocken Books, 1968).




10. This "romantic" approach to landscape begins, of course, in eighteenth-century literature first, as in Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto of 1764. In landscape painting it

is found in the very early nineteenth century, especially in those inspired by seventeenth

century landscapists in Italy. Washington Allston, for example, coming to Italy in 1804, was especially influenced by Salvator Rosa.

11. For a biography of Mrs. Jameson, see Clara Thomas, Love and Work Enough: The

Life of Anna Jameson (Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 1967). Her obituary in The

New York Times, 7 April 1 860 (supplement, 1 ), gives a list of her major works as well as

a sketch of her life.

12. Of the 24 major titles she published, her Sacred and Legendary Art, 2 vols. (1 857) is probably the best known in the field of art. Her Sketches in Canada and Rambles

among the Red Men (1852) is well known asan important source in early Canadian his

tory; it originally appeared in 1838 with a different title.

13. Her father, a watercolorist, had "encouraged his daughter to be exact and careful

in observation and record, both in her writing and in her sketching" (Thomas, 8). 14. The editions cited below are often later than the date of the actual voyage. 15. Edouard Gail lot, La Vie secrète de Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. . . (Paris: Gui

tard, 1934) 63. No date for the quotation is given. 16. Etienne Moreau-Nélaton, Corot, raconté par lui-même (Paris: Laurens, 1924) 1:

105. No date is given, but it is quoted in the context of 1 855-1 861.

17. P.L. Jacob [Paul Lacroix], Impressions de voyage en Italie (Paris: Adolphe Dela

hays, 1859) 168.

18. During 1830 and 1831 Corot painted in Normandy, Burgundy and the Auvergne, as well as at Fontainebleau and Chartres.

1 9. From the Diary, quoted in Thomas, 35.

20. Anna Jameson, The Diary of an Ennuyée (Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1857) 1 56.

21. Elie Faure, Corot (Paris: G. Crès [1931 ]) 57. No date is given, but from the con

text, a pronouncement in Corot's old age, it is probably the late 1 860's.

22. Moreau-Nélaton, 1: 105. No date is given, but it is quoted in the context of 1855

1861.

23. Jameson 11 7.

24. James Paul Cobbert, Journal of a Tour in Italy, and Also in Part of France and

Switzerland, from October 1828 to September 1829 (London: Mills, Jowett & Mills,

1830) 33.

25. Novotny 106.

26. Moreau-Nélaton, 1: 25 and 1: 66. The first sentence is from a notebook of about

1825; the second is quoted in the context of the period 1855-1861.

27. Novotny 107.

28. Moreau-Nélaton, 1: 54. Corot goes on to say: "Promenez-vous bien sur le Pincio

.... Etudiez bien la physionomie pour me dire en rentrant si j'ai bien rendu cette nature

grande et sévère."

29. Jameson 1 33.

30. Jameson 183-84.

31. Moreau-Nélaton, 1:15-1 6, in a letter from Rome of March 1 826. Corot also refers

to his painting as being "si miserable, si triste auprès de cette éclatant nature."

32. Moreau-Nélaton, 1: 251. Others—especially artists—noticed this "prismatic splen dor" and the sharp, clear forms of buildings. It is significant that when the painter Karl

Blechen went to Italy in 1 828, his earlier style of dark and shadowy romantic landscapes

(such as The Mountain Gorge in Winter, 1825, in Novotny, pl. 94B) was completely given

up to a style that was as brilliantly clear and sharp as Corot's, such as in Blechen's The

Strada Consolare, Pompeii of 1829 (Novotny, pl. 95B). See Novotny 123.



Daniel D. Reiff 57

33. Jameson 278.

34. Jameson 1 33.

35. Cobbett 192.

36. Cobbett 114. Mrs. Jameson also noted this picturesque integration, commenting near Covigliajo in the Apennines, on the "soft sunny valleys and peaceful hamlets . . . , with here and there a convent half hidden by groves of cypress and cedars" (Jameson 81 ).

37. The first version (Fig. 2) dates from 1 826-1827; the second, somewhat larger, and

more finished version is dated in Robaut about 1835-1840.

38. Jameson 184. And, interestingly enough, "two or three strangers [artists?] who

were sauntering about with their notebooks and portfolios." 39. Jameson 254.

40. Jameson 268-269. The view was from the Villa Lenti, on the Monte Gianicolo.

41. Besides Rome he visited Terni, Civita Castellana, Ronciglione, Albano, Frascati,

Naples, Ischia, and other southern spots, with a stop in Venice his only major northern

city. See Robaut, 1: 29-48; a handy chronological table listing cities visited is found in

Jean Dieterle, Jean-Baptiste Corot, 1796-1875 (Paris: Flammarion, 1959) n.p. 42. These sites included Genoa, Desenzano and Como, with Volterra being about the

farthest south he ventured. See Robaut, 1: 65-72, and Dieterle. His third voyage of 1843

took him back to Rome and the south.

43. Jameson 232.

44. William Beckford, Italy: With Sketches of Spain and Portugal (Philadelphia: Key & Biddle, 1834) 157. Beckford's visit to Italy began in July 1780, but olive trees also

flourished in Mrs. Jameson's time: she commented on the groves of olive trees in the

north several times (Diary 57, 119 and 121 ). 45. Beckford 157. Mrs. Jameson (122) also comments on the "many-tinted robe of

verdure" which a wide variety of trees gave to an area near Trevi.

46. Jameson 84-85. She observed both the "softness" of the northern landscapes

("we could see the whole Lombardy spread at our feet; a vast, glittering, indistinct land

scape," 81 ), and also the frequent mist one found in morning or evening ("Flow reviving was the breath of the early morning . . . , how beautiful the blush of light stealing down

wards from the illuminated summits to the valleys, tinting the fleecy mists, as they rose

from the earth" in the hills of Florence, 84). 47. Jameson 119. It should be noted, however, that not all lakes were so attractive;

Mr. Cobbett was much impressed by "a small lake of stagnant water, and some marshy land" near Fondi infested with malaria (Cobbett 202).

48. The atmospheric softness is, as noted, predominant in his later works; but the

sense of architectural form is also found in many of later works which contain buildings or other structures, such as his Le Pont de Mantes (R. 151 6) of 1 868-1 870.




cas- i -

Fig. 1 Rome: Ile et Pont San Bartolomeo, 1826-1828

(Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, FHarriet Otis Cruft Fund;

copy of Corot original)

Fig. 2 Pont et Château Saint-Ange avec la coupole de Saint-Pierre,

1826-1827 (Courtesy The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Gift of

Archer M. Fluntington in memory of Collis P. Fiuntington)



Daniel D. Relff 59

i . — < ■ «•

-SSL1,. '

;iÉÍ'^í' i &Jb

Fig. 3 Aqueducs dans la campagne romaine, 1826-1827

(Museum of Modem Art, Corot-Daumier [1930], pl. 1)

* _ ■- .jy1 -ç- . 3*&<

- - -mm

M

Fig. 4 Olevano: la ville et les rochers, 1827

(Moreau-Nélaton, Corot [1924], fig. 28)



Nineteenth-Century French Studies

H 1 n.

Fig. 5 Rome: vue prise des Jardins Farnese; le Cotisée, 1826

(Louvre; Giraudon/Art Resource, New York)

II i

iftl?

Fig. 6 Rome: Monte Pincio. La Trinité des Monts. (Vue prise des

jardins de l'Académie de France), 1826-1828




Daniel D. Reiff 61

mm

Fig. 7 A View Near Volterra, 1838

(Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington; Chester Dale Collection)

mam *

:ft .. ■ " t

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. M

Fig. 8 Souvenir de Caste/ Gandolfo, 1865-1868




Documents

COROT AND NINETEENTH-CENTURY TRAVELLERS IN ITALY