Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
Bertin studied initially with Girodet and later with Ingres and from them acquired a grounding in classical landscape. He began his career by submitting a historical landscape to the Salon of 1827, but shortly thereafter he broke with classical tradition and devoted himself to painting and drawing from nature. He traveled widely in Europe, particularly in Italy, where he lived for more than a decade. In this drawing on blue paper, two monks populate an Italian roadside scene. Bertin combined a close examination of nature in the specific rendering of the trees and rocks with a clear, almost abstract organization of the planes that belies his classical training.
Inscriptions
VERSO, lower right, in graphite: 227083
Exhibition history
French Drawings from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 13, 1994-March 12, 1995). Nature Sublime: Landscapes from the 19th Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 15-November 14, 2004).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- François Edouard Bertin (French, 1797–1871)
- Date
- c. 1840
- Medium
- graphite heightened with white chalk; framing lines (arched at top) in graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 27.4 x 32.2 cm (10 13/16 x 12 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1990.79
More by Edouard Bertin in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011429
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