The Four Times of Day: Morning

This tall panel is dawn, the first of four times of day, and Corot kept the colour down almost to nothing. Most of it stays in browns and dull greens. The National Gallery's catalogue notes that the sketchy brown underpainting he started with is still visible across the picture, especially low down in the foreground, with thicker, more opaque paint worked over it. He painted it around 1858, on wood that is probably cherry. The one strong note is on the horizon, a glow of orange laid on quite thickly between the tree trunks, where the sun is about to come up. Below it stands a goatherd in a red cap, holding a stick. Look for his two goats. The farther one is solid enough, while the nearer one is almost transparent, just a few strokes of cream paint around empty space.