(b Chamagne, Lorraine, ?1604/5; d Rome, 23 Nov. 1682). French painter, draughtsman, and occasional etcher, active for almost all his career in Rome; he is often called Le Lorrain (in France), or Claude Lorrain(e) (in the English-speaking world), after his place of birth, but he is usually referred to simply as Claude, a familiarity reflecting his enormous fame as the most celebrated of all exponents of ideal landscape. At an early age (probably shortly before 1620) he moved to Rome, where he is said to have initially worked as a pastry cook (a favourite trade of Lorrainers). He then entered the household of Agostino Tassi, progressing from domestic servant to studio assistant, and he also spent two years studying in Naples with the obscure German-born landscapist Goffredo Wals (c.

Text source: The Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford University Press)


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