The Piper at Lake Albano 1872

Camille Corot painted The Piper at Lake Albano, using oil on canvas. The setting is Lake Albano, near Rome. Corot was French, but many artists of the period made a pilgrimage to Italy to steep themselves in the classical tradition. Here, Corot gives us a modern take on the pastoral tradition - paintings and poems celebrating the imagined lives of shepherds. It's a romantic vision, for sure. But there is also a social dimension to the image. On the one hand, Corot is evoking an idealized past, but he's also commenting on the changes taking place in the 19th century. With industrialization, there was a growing nostalgia for rural life. To understand Corot's place in the art world, we might look at exhibition reviews from the time. What did critics say about his depictions of the Italian countryside? By looking at these sources, we gain a better understanding of the social and institutional context that shaped his work.