A View of the Campagna from Tivoli

These two shepherds conversing represent Claude’s minimum quota of figures. Instead the subject here is the countryside around Rome, where a visitor today could still appreciate a similar view. The artist captures the light just before the sun disappears. The rocky landscape and cascades emerge from behind a grey haze, which turns blue where the land plateaus. The small bump on the horizon is the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.