Cirque de Gavarnie 

This lithograph of the Cirque de Gavarnie was made by Maxime Lalanne, a 19th-century French artist. It depicts a striking geological formation in the Pyrenees mountains, a site that had become a tourist destination in this period. This image creates meaning through established visual codes of the sublime. Notice how the tiny foreground details of rocks draw the viewer into a scene of awesome scale and dramatic contrasts of light and shadow. The image was produced in a time of growing interest in landscape art and tourism, shaped by the socio-political context of 19th-century France, including the development of infrastructure, and the expansion of leisure activities for the bourgeoisie. It comments on the changing relationship between humans and nature. It emphasizes the power of nature to inspire and overwhelm. By consulting travel guides, maps, and other historical resources, we can gain a better understanding of the meaning of this image in its time. Art is contingent on its social and institutional context.