An Italianate river landscape with figures resting by ruins with their herd

Although Pierre Patel never travelled to Italy, he would have undoubtedly become acquainted with the work of Claude Lorrain (1600-1682). Patel would have seen the pictures by Claude being imported back to Paris from Rome in the mid-17th Century. There are evident similarities between their two styles; both men possessed a talent for light, airy compositions, elevated by the inclusion of classical motifs.

The current painting is a beautiful example of Patel’s approach to composition. Unlike some of his contemporaries, such as Jean Lemaire (1598-1659), Patel did not view the natural landscape as a background accompaniment to classical ruins. Instead, the ruins are included to raise the landscape genre, allowing it to compete with the grandeur of history painting on its own terms. The details of the Corinthian capitals, the geometric entablature and the delicacy of the bas-relief frieze are executed with great precision. These ruins frame the composition and guide the viewer's gaze over the fields to the far-off horizon. A similar effect is produced by the Italian Landscape in the Kunstmuseum, Basel, where the ruins act as a frame to the natural landscape.