Setting off to Market
by TROYON, Constant, Oil on canvas, 261 x 211 cm
Animals became frequent elements in Troyon’s paintings after the late 1840s, when he discovered to his delight the Dutch animal painters, especially Paulus Potter. The haze of a summer morning hangs over this landscape and invests it with a lightness reminiscent of Corot; it anticipates Impressionism later in the century but, on such a large canvas, comes across more as a decorative effect.