Monte-Cavo 1825 - 1828

Camille Corot's painting, Monte-Cavo, presents a landscape dominated by form and tone. The strong, pyramidal shape of the mountain creates a powerful focal point, yet it's the atmospheric use of colour that defines the artwork's emotional tenor. Corot's brushwork is loose, almost gestural, particularly in the foliage and sky, and this lends a sense of immediacy. The way he captures light, especially on the mountain's face, gives the scene depth and volume, however it is the arrangement of light and shadow, and the interplay between them, that generates a sense of tranquility. The formal arrangement implies a careful consideration of pictorial space, and a subtle subversion of traditional landscape painting. There isn't an illusionistic depth, or a perspectival harmony, but rather a flatter composition that emphasizes the painting's surface. The painting can be read less as a representation of nature, and more as an exploration of form.