Art during the middle of the 19th century: Jean Baptiste Camille Corot and his

Naturalism.

Corot (1796-1875) studied the painting through the reality and not through to eyes of the other great painters. He painted open landscapes by using light and pastel colours. His painting is neither a genre-painting nor a historical landscape one.

Between 1825 and 1828, during his first trip to Italy, he painted Rome and its landscape.

This was a very brilliant work because the paintings were of small-format and because of his way to clearly represent the roman countryside.

This plein-air approach, gave him the possibility to develop a naturalistic style within the classical French tradition.

Through a strong sensibility, Corot wants to reproduce true atmospheres with clear details, such as the branches and the flowers in the fields.

He worked in Paris and in the Fontainbleau Forest where he discovered the Barbizon school.