Printing plate for The Tempest (Le Tempête)

In the 1860s, Charles Amand-Durand perfected the process of heliogravure to produce extremely accurate facsimile reproductions of old master prints. At that time, Georges Duplessis (1834–1899) was the curator of prints at the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the two collaborated on a series of publications intended to disseminate images of outstanding prints that had grown too rare to be familiar to a broad audience. Duplessis selected the prints, and Amand-Durand provided the facsimiles. The present plate was probably made in connection with the publication Eaux-fortes de Claude Lorrain (Paris, 1875), and is based on Claude Lorrain's earliest dated etching, The Tempest, of 1630. Surrounded by rough seas, several boats are crowded—perhaps tossed—against a mostly overgrown rocky promontory featuring a crenellated tower. In the foreground, figures use a small boat to seek the safety of shore and to salvage some of their cargo. Claude's 17th-century biographer, Filippo Baldinucci, recounts that the artist experienced severe storms at sea while en route from Lorrain to Rome in 1627. Though Claude is primarily known for his pastoral landscapes, stormy seas became a recurring theme in his work.