The Country Dance (Large Plate) 1632 - 1642

Claude Lorrain's "The Country Dance (Large Plate)" etching, created between 1632 and 1642, depicts a lively scene of peasants engaged in a joyous dance beneath a canopy of trees. The composition is characterized by a sense of depth, achieved through the use of atmospheric perspective. Lorrain's mastery of light and shadow, a hallmark of his style, is evident in the play of light across the figures and the landscape. This etching is part of a series of ten, known as the "Liber Veritatis," which Lorrain compiled to record and safeguard his original drawings. The collection is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and it is a testament to the artist's extraordinary skill in capturing the essence of nature and human life.