La Rochelle. Harbour Entrance

In 1851 Corot spent part of the summer at La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast, and this small canvas, 27 by 42 centimetres, comes from that stay. The Louvre's title calls the scene the entrance to the port d'échouage, the tidal harbour where boats settled on the mud each time the sea went out. Here the water is in. Boats crowd the quay with their sails hanging loose, and their masts and rigging are doubled in the still surface. Behind them rises one of the round medieval towers at the harbour mouth, and at the far end of the jetty stands a small white lighthouse. The sky is pale and the whole scene is held in an even, quiet light. The picture hangs in Room 949.