This painting was done by Claude Lorraine in 1643. It caught my eye because of the sailboats in the painting because I grew up around them and love looking at the old world sailboats from this time period. The forms of the sailboat are easily recognizable as three-dimensional you can see the mast sticking out giving them height and the width of the boats from port to starboard. The way the boats are positioned in the painting can’t really show you the length from bow to stern but you can easily make out the forms of the boat. The spaces in the painting are also very well defined. You can tell when the land stops and the water begins, where the boats are in relation to the water, and where the sea and land turn into sky.
After I read the caption I realized this had to deal with Troy somehow and instantly found as much as I could about this painting and the fall of Troy because I am a history nerd. One of Claude Lorrain’s patrons was King Phillip IV of Spain. Though for this specific painting he was commissioned by the Cardinal Farnese during his return to Rome in order to fight Calvinism. The painting was supposed to be metaphor for Franese’s return to Rome to set a fire and burn Calvinism like the woman setting fire to the Trojan Fleet.
Source: Metmuseum.org, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/clau/hd_clau.htm.
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