Follower of Claude Lorrain Landscape with Figures & Goats

An original 18th-century watercolour painting, Follower of Claude Lorrain, Landscape with Figures & Goats.

This impressive large drawing in ink and wash is a quintessential Claudian landscape composition inspired by the countryside around Rome.

Goats appear frequently in Claude’s early paintings and the artist produced a number of studies of goats in isolation and within landscapes. The young goatherd in the middle-distance appears to play a flute, a pose derived from images of the classical hero Orpheus charming the animals with his music. The goatherd was often a symbol of a lost age of innocence or a celebration of solitude away from worldly cares. The figures in the foreground possibly represent a scene from classical mythology, as was typical with many of Claude's compositions.

On laid paper with J Whatman watermark. The formation of the 'W' in Whatman, with a crossed line at the centre, indicates that this is not, however, genuine Whatman paper but rather an example of one of the many forgeries of Whatman paper that were made in France, Germany and Austria. As such, it is interesting evidence of the complex history of handmade paper and the business around it.

Provenance: Albany Gallery Collection