A Seaport

The harbour is imaginary, but Claude assembled much of it from Rome. He painted it in 1644, and the buildings along his quay borrow from real ones in the city, the Villa Farnesina, the Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitol, the Arch of Titus. The doorway of the palace in the foreground is based on the gateway to the Farnese gardens, and the statue of Venus on its balustrade recalls a famous ancient marble owned by the Medici. High on that same building a clock tells the time, five o'clock. Above the clock, and on the ships' flags, Claude painted three golden fleurs-de-lis, the emblem of the French crown, which points to a French patron. On the quay well-dressed figures stand talking while boatmen ferry passengers out to the ships, and a musician sits with his lute as the sun drops toward the harbour mouth.