logo

Eyes to behold stunning artworks in world-class museums.

Villages

3 min read
Villages

The Metropolitan Museum has a number of artworks that depict villages from different parts of the world. These artworks provide a glimpse into the different ways that villages have been designed and laid out over time. They also offer a look at how people have lived in villages throughout history, and how village life has changed over time.

A Village Street: Dardagny

French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris / The Met

    Corot was a tireless traveler, and the extension of the network of French railroads in the 1850s widened the range of his summer journeys.
    In 1852, 1857, and 1863, he visited Dardagny, a small village near Geneva.
    This view, essentially unchanged today, was probably painted on Corot's first visit.
   It is an excellent example of his remarkable ability to derive a poetic scene from a prosaic site

Pirna: The Obertor from the South

Italian, Venice 1722–1780 Warsaw / The Met

    Bellotto was Canaletto's nephew and student who himself was to become an internationally renown view painter.
    Between 1747 and 1758, he worked for the court of Dresden and painted the nearby village of Pirna, depicted here with its city gate, adjacent tower (known as the Obertor), church, and town hall.
    Friederich August II, elector of Saxony and king of Poland, and Count Brühl, his prime minister, commissioned larger scale views of Pirna between 1753 and 1756.
    A private patron must have commissioned this reduced replica either concurrently or sometime in the 1760s.

Picquigny

Norwegian, Oslo (Kristiania) 1847–1906 Volendam, The Netherlands / The Met

    Thaulow earned great success with his depictions of the rivers and byways of northern France.
    This canvas shows the village of Picquigny, near Amiens on the river Somme, where the Norwegian painter worked for several weeks in the late autumn of 1899.
    The composition adopts a downward vantage point that emphasizes the eddying water and its ever-changing colors, reflections, and illumination.

View of Lormes

French, Paris 1796–1875 Paris / The Met

    This sketch is one of many views of the countryside and villages in the Morvan, the mountainous region of Burgundy where Corot had many relatives, and which he visited in the early 1840s.
    The sketch is rapidly executed and made outdoors.
    This sketch is one of many views of the countryside and villages in the Morvan, the mountainous region of Burgundy where Corot had many relatives, and which he visited in the early 1840s.

A Village in a Valley

French, Paris 1812–1867 Barbizon / The Met

    Rousseau was not yet twenty years old when he painted this study from nature during one of his many expeditions into the countryside around Paris in the late 1820s.
    It is probably the painting described as a view of the plain of Saint-Ouen from the hill of Batignolles, with the forest of Montmorency in the distance, that was included in the 1867 retrospective of his work.

From 14th Century To 15th Century

From 14th Century To 15th Century

During the 14th and 15th centuries, artists in Europe began to break away from the traditional Gothic style. They began to experiment with new techniques and styles, resulting in a period of great creativity and innovation in the arts. Some of the most famous artworks from this period include the paintings of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, and the sculptures of Donatello. Box with Romance Scenes     This coffret illustrated with scenes from Arthurian and other courtly literature of the M
-5 分钟阅读
From 1819 To 1826

From 1819 To 1826

The 19th century was a time of great change in the world of art. Artists began to experiment with new styles and media, and the art world was forever changed as a result. Some of the most famous artists of the time include Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Pablo Picasso. The Falls of Niagara     The painting is of Niagara Falls from the Canadian side.     The painting is based on a vignette of the falls from a map of North America published by Henry S. Tanner in 1822. Heroic Landscape w
-4 分钟阅读
From 1787 To 1800

From 1787 To 1800

The 18th century was a time of great change in the world of art. New styles and genres emerged, and artists began to experiment with new techniques and materials. The art of the 18th century reflected the changing times, and the growing interest in the natural world and the human form. Elizabeth Farren (born about 1759, died 1829), Later Countess of Derby     The Irish actress Elizabeth Farren made her London debut in 1777 and soon became one of the most popular comic performers of the day.  
-5 分钟阅读