Landscape with Goatherd 1636

Claude Lorrain painted this Landscape with Goatherd at some point in the 17th century. This painting exemplifies the idealizing trend in landscape art during the Baroque period, especially in France and Italy. Note how Lorrain doesn't depict the countryside as it was, with all its agricultural labor and economic activity, but as a peaceful retreat. This is, in essence, a fantasy for the urban elite, who could imagine escaping to this kind of rural idyll. It’s worth noting that the patronage of the arts was largely tied to the aristocracy and the church, and art institutions like the Royal Academy in France reinforced these tastes. To truly understand paintings like this, we need to look at estate records, travel writing, and even the fashion for pastoral poetry at the time. Ultimately, art always exists in a web of social and institutional relations.