Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot

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This poetic landscape is typical of Corot's late, atmospheric style, with the common motifs of hills, water, and trees with diaphanous foliage all depicted in a limited color range of greys mixed with greens, ochres, and whites.

The painting does not represent an actual site, but the round tower is reminiscent of a castle overlooking the Lake of Nemi. This famous lake near Rome in the Alban Hills had classical associations and had been a popular subject for landscape painters since the seventeenth century. Corot, himself, had painted the site during visits to Italy.

A master of light, Corot made a great impact on artists of the Impressionist generation such as Monet and Pissarro.