Visions of nature and the past
Landscape painting developed in many directions after 1750. The royalty continued to order topographical works, as in the Ports de France awarded to Joseph Vernet. Exotic landscapes decorated the homes of the wealthy. A new poetical rationale was born: the landscape was transformed into a kind of nostalgic musing on the past. Hubert Robert looked to ancient Rome for models used in his imaginary architectures. These decisive years were those of the initial discoveries of Pompeii and Herculanum and Piranese published his famous illustrations Antiquités romaines in 1756.
|
