Claude Lorrain

Claude Lorrain's paintings give landscape and light a central role in biblical and classical narratives, often placing small figures within expansive views. Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba (1648), made for the Duc de Bouillon, sets her departure in a sunrise harbor. Working mainly in Rome, he developed outdoor observations into studio oil paintings. His Liber Veritatis, or Book of Truth, preserves drawn records of completed compositions.