Réminiscences nostalgiques : la lumière et le Rien dans les marines de Claude Lorrain

Abstract

NOSTALGIC REMINISCENCES: LIGHT AND NOTHING IN MARINE PAINTINGS BY CLAUDE LORRAIN The article focuses on the analysis of notions of reminiscence and nostalgia through the example of Claude Lorrain’s marine paintings. Unlike the Arcadian landscapes of his contemporary Nicolas Poussin, these often do not evoke concrete myths, but inspire less obvious reminiscences in the viewer. Lorrain’s paintings can be conceived therefore as allegories of nostalgia, a category that the article approaches with the help of that of Nothing. It aims to show that it is through the particular light effects that Lorrain’s landscapes and marine paintings suggest a sense of timeless and nostalgic reminiscences to the viewer.