Masters in Art Plate 1 3 3 5 7 4 7 Claude Lorbajn
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M A S T E R S I N A R T In a a a M T I N A RT nswering dvertisements , ple se mention AS E RS M A S T E R S I N A R T I n a a a M T I N A RT nswering dvertisements , ple se mention AS ERS P R TR T O F CLA U D E L R R B O AI O AIN Y J OA CH I M VON S A N DR A BT in his w i ll Claude l ef a co of a o r i i lf py p a o f h mse to th e Ch uc h of St L t tr t r . uke . P o a and c o y have bo h d a ea i p i d . Th e o nl li i i rtr t t s pp re y keness o f th e art st wh c h h as an c a m to au hen c is th y l i i i y e n ravi n b Sandrart i “ i li i t t t e g g y n his A cadem a Nobi s s ma A s Pic to riae ub h i , p li s ed at Nuember in 1 6 8 rt r g 3. [ 35 8 1 24 M A S T E R S I N A R T — ' v alde mediocri - a rum imo n ib zl and learned little or nothing at school p , ere ro ceret. f , p fi The statement is borne out by such scra ps ofwriting as Claude In in later years scrawled on the backs of his drawings . these short notes he I - jumbles up French , talian , and Latin ; he spells his own name in a half dozen ff di erent ways , so much so that in his will he has to record the correct spelling ’ Gellé e of it as ; and in his attempt to spell other people s names , even those of his best friends , he goes hopelessly astray . Seeing that there was nothing to be made of the boy as a scholar , his parents - apprenticed him to a pastry cook . Later Claude set o ff with some of his “ “ San d rart countrymen for Rome , whither , so informs us , the cooks and ” - pie makers of Lorraine had for centuries been accustomed to repair . ’ ’ d rart . Ba d in ucc i s fl San l i d i ers . Thus far narrat ve Claude , he tells us , had s lo t both his parents by the time he was twelve years old , and was obliged to cross the Rhine and seek a home under the roof of his eldest brother , Jean , who had set up at Freiburg as a wood engraver and carver . Here Cla ude t e mained twelve months , receiving instruction from his brother in the elements . A of drawing t the end of that time a relative , a dealer in lace , the production i of of which was then , as it is now, an important ndustry in the neighborhood ’ Claude s native place , passing through Freiburg , on his way to Rome with his ff In wares , o ered to take the boy with him . Rome Claude found a lodging near the Pantheon , and continued his studies as best he could , apparently u naided . N at Thrown entirely on his own resources , Claude made his way to aples , tracted thither , it would appear , by the reputation of a German landscape Wael s painter , Gottfried , with whom he remained two years , studying archi tecture , perspective , and color . Then he returned to Rome , where he was A admitted into the household of gostino Tassi , from whom he received “ ” board , lodging , and instruction in the best principles of art , in return for ” - - his services as stable boy, color grinder , and general slavey . S uch is ’ Bald in uc c i s account . The only point of real importance in which it does not W l s tally with that of Sand ra rt is as to the instruction from ae . ’ Tas s i s San d rart How long Claude remained under roof does not tell us . Bal din uc ci A 16 2 of w an states that he left Rome in pril , 5, and began a series d erin s . fi g , which lasted over two years His rst stage was the Santa Casa of e Loretto . Thenc he went to Venice ; then through Bavaria to his native village ’ Bal d in uc c i in Lorraine . This short account given by of Cla ude s journey has been amplified by later biographers and adorned with picturesque details . K night Payne , for example , would have us believe that the young painter mmemo . co spent some time at Harlaching, a little village near Munich To s o f rate this suppo ed sojourn Claude at Harlaching , a monument , bearing his 186 K 1. portrait and an inscription , was erected in 5 by ing Ludwig of Bavaria N From Chamagne Claude repaired to ancy , the capital of Lorraine and o fl ux ur i seat of the Ducal Court , a court famous for its love y and ts patronage of the arts . Through a relative who resided there , Claude was fortunate enough — ’ to secure an introduction to Claude Deruet Dervent in Bal din uc ci s text - - painter in ordinary to the reigning duke . [ 3 6 0] C L A U D E L O R R A I N 25 ’ Shortly after Claude s arrival at Nancy Deruet was called on by the prior C r of a armelite monaste y, erected at the beginning of the century , to ornament O the roof of the newly built church of the community . n this task Claude was ’ ’ Deruet s set to work , along with other assistants . Claude s share in the work Baldin uc c i was , according to , restricted to the architectural ornaments . Un fortunately this church and its contents were destroyed during the French . and Revolution This work proved distasteful to Claude , , having already tasted the joys of life under a southern sky, he quitted the uncongenial service Deruet N of , left ancy and his native country, which he was destined never to 16 2 see again , and in the summer of 7 set his face southward , and made his way I toward taly , choosing this time the most rapid route , namely, —by Lyons to . I s Marseilles Here , while waiting for a ship to take him to taly o at least — h e his later biographers relate was stricken by an attack of fever , which - well nigh proved fatal . On his recovery he found that he had been robbed of nearly all he possessed . After a series of adventures he finally reached Rome ’ 16 by way of Civita Vecchia on St . Luke s Day 2 7. Bald in ucc i To read the account of his life given by , one would be tempted to believe that Cla ude at once sprang into notice and sold his works to wealthy I . San d rart patrons , both talian and foreign , however , who arrived about this ’ time in Rome , and made Claude s acquaintance there , gives us an account from which we gather that the next few years of Claude ’ s life were years of i constant study, and that the results of this study, though n the end they brought both fame and riches , were at first of small pecuniary profit . — —“ “Claude it is Sand rart who speaks was indefatigable in his en d eavo r - to get a real solid basis of art training, to penetrate into the inmost ” secrets of nature . Day after day he would be up before dawn and far out e into the Campagna . He dless of fatigue , he would stay there till after night t fall , noting every phase of dawn , straining to seize the tints of sunrise, sunse , l e amin i and the g g hours , t nts which he would endeavor to match with his colors on his palette . Then in his studio or garret he would set to work with ff the palette thus prepared , and endeavor to produce a transcri pt of the e ects “ which he had seen , and which he succeeded in rendering with a veracity ” which no painter before him has ever o btained . During this period of study, and before he had succeeded in producing d a those landscapes which the connoisseurs of his y sought so eagerly, Claude executed several frescos which are referred to by his biographers with almost unstinted praise . They were landscape subjects , of realistic treatment , but have been either destroyed or repainted . When not engaged in studying in the open air or painting frescos for his livelihood , Claude would spend his time drawing from the life , or from statues A In at the cademy . this pursuit he persevered diligently, even to his latest . years . His application , so far from being profitable to him , was noxious The i fact s that Claude did possess a certain facility for indicating figures , as is shown by many of his drawings . When , however , he set himself to elaborate A these sketches , to put in all the muscles which the cademic teaching of the In i i . day ns sted upon , he produced very painful results his pictures this defect [ 3 6 1 ] 25 M A S T E R S I N A R T asserts itself even more plainly .