Landscape, 19th century

French school of the XIX century.
"Landscape with deer".
Oil on canvas.
Presents reatauraciones and faults. Needs restoration.
Measurements: 124 x 202 cm; 150 x 228 cm (frame).

One of the most radical aspects of the romantic painting was the attempt to substitute the great canvases of historical or religious subject for the landscape. They intended the pure landscape, almost without figures or totally devoid of them, to achieve the heroic significance of history painting. They were based on the idea that human feeling and nature should be complementary, one reflected in the other. That is, the landscape should arouse emotion and transmit ideas. Thus, landscape painters like the author of this cardboard tried to express their feelings through the landscape, instead of imitating it. Romantic landscape had two main aspects: the dramatic, with turbulent and fantastic views, and the naturalistic, which emphasized images of a peaceful and serene nature. This second conception is the one we see embodied in this work; the painter tries to communicate a religious reverence for the landscape, nature in plenitude, free from the industrial elements of modern life, although enriched by the presence of peasants with their carriages, perfectly integrated into the landscape. In fact, the author's own use of light here conveys a hazy, murky, dreamlike atmosphere that invites the viewer to meditate and contemplate himself in the landscape.