My (humble) ART Collection (Selected)
'La Naufrage' aka 'The Shipwreck' etching by Claude Lorrain. Drawn on copperplate c.1640. This impression is from McCreery’s 1816 edition of “200 Etchings” printed from the original plate.
In terms of content and iconography, "The Shipwreck" may reflect the Northern influence on Lorrain's art, since Northern (particularly Dutch) landscape views often include romantic architectural motifs, such as ruined castles and imaginary ancient buildings. There also appears to be an emblematic theme of vanitas commonly associated with Dutch Baroque art. In juxtaposing the blasted, monumental form of the castle with the churning storm, the allegorical meaning in this etching suggests that the noble achievements of humans are ultimately insignificant compared to the forces of nature. The vanitas theme serves as a moralistic reminder that despite their inventions and innovations (signified in the nautical engineering of the ship), humans are still insignificant before the power of nature and the divine will of God. Moreover, the allegorical theme of a distressed ship in a storm frequently symbolized in Dutch art the dangerous uncertainty of life's voyage.
While long neglected compared with his paintings, in the 17th century, the etchings of Claude Lorrain (1600-1682), are rivaled only by those of Rembrandt.