Home Online catalogues True to Nature. Open-air Painting 1780-1870 78. Camille Corot Paris 1796 – 1875 Paris View of the Convent of Sant’Onofrio on the Janiculum, Rome, 1826 Corot set off for Italy in late 1825 and arrived in Rome by December that year. The inscription fevrier 1826, scratched into the still-wet paint in the lower right corner, confirms that this study was made entirely en plein air and makes it one of the earliest firmly dated oil sketches from his first Italian sojourn. In this view of the Campagna surrounding Rome, Corot’s strong sense of geometry gives way to his sensitivity to light and atmosphere. Painted with remarkable freedom, the foreground is merely indicated in broad brushstrokes, and our attention is turned towards the turbulent sky. The impressive stormy cloud formations are rendered with great gusto in myriad shades of grey, yet in the moment captured by the artist we catch a glimpse of light blue sky along the top left. Little-known outside of the artist’s circle and unexhibited during his lifetime, Corot’s studies came to public attention with his estate sale in 1875, which likely included this painting.
Corot set off for Italy in late 1825 and arrived in Rome by December that year. The inscription fevrier 1826, scratched into the still-wet paint in the lower right corner, confirms that this study was made entirely en plein air and makes it one of the earliest firmly dated oil sketches from his first Italian sojourn. In this view of the Campagna surrounding Rome, Corot’s strong sense of geometry gives way to his sensitivity to light and atmosphere. Painted with remarkable freedom, the foreground is merely indicated in broad brushstrokes, and our attention is turned towards the turbulent sky. The impressive stormy cloud formations are rendered with great gusto in myriad shades of grey, yet in the moment captured by the artist we catch a glimpse of light blue sky along the top left. Little-known outside of the artist’s circle and unexhibited during his lifetime, Corot’s studies came to public attention with his estate sale in 1875, which likely included this painting.