Title: Classical Landscape

Artist: Pierre-Henri

Classical Landscape with Figures and Sculpture 1788 Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes French, 1750–1819 Oil on panel This luminous, tightly constructed painting was exhibited in the Salon of 1789, the annual artists' exhibition in the Louvre, Paris. This landscape was inspired by the countryside surrounding Rome, where Valenciennes trained as a young artist. He probably chose a piece of wood panel as the painting surface for his scene because the hard material allowed for extraordinarily precise brushwork. Valenciennes's great dexterity as a painter and his ability to render the soft, warm light of Italy contributed to his status as the leading landscape painter of his day.