Imaginary Landscape
Small figures in an imaginary landscape of rocky mountains, a lake and an evening sky, by Gaspard Dughet, Poussin's brother-in-law, recalling the countryside near Rome. Full commentary ↓
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Imaginary Landscape is an oil painting by Gaspard Dughet in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It measures 96.2 × 153.7 cm.
In the pictureLarge trees stand on either side, and between them a lake, rocky mountains and a cloudy evening sky stretch into the distance. A few small figures sit on a rock in the foreground, and more people appear by the water behind them. Greens, browns and grays fill the picture, and only the sky is bright.
BackgroundGaspard Dughet was born in Rome and became the brother-in-law and pupil of Nicolas Poussin, specializing in ideal landscapes based on the mountains and lakes around Rome. His method was the "imaginary landscape," composed from several places rather than one real site, and 18th-century English aristocrats collected such paintings and took them as models for the English landscape garden.
Puzzle tipWide and full of green, it is no easy task. Fit the bright sky pieces and the gray lake pieces first to make a band across the middle, attach the dark pieces of the trees on either side, and then fill the bottom with the rocks and figures in the foreground. 100 pieces is about right.
- Artist
- French, Rome 1615–1675 Rome
- Classification
- Paintings
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 96.2 x 153.7 cm
- Credit line
- Rogers Fund, 1908
Source: The Metropolitan Museum of Art ↗
Stories about this work
- Two Roman Ideal Landscapes of Places That Exist Nowhere
A landscape on copper with a biblical scene, and an imaginary landscape assembled from many places. The ideal landscape tradition that grew up in Rome, read through Domenichino and Dughet.
- Why Forest Puzzles Are So Hard, and How to Choose a Landscape Painting
Landscapes with a wide sky and landscapes packed with forest are hard for different reasons. How to find reference points for each type, and how to pick a good first landscape.
