ARTWORKS

The Diligence in the Snow

Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)

The National Gallery, London

The Diligence in the Snow

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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The high viewpoint in this painting opens up the prospect of the vast distance, heightening its very real feeling of terror -- yet the viewpoint also places us at a safe distance from the scene, without it losing its hold. The chaos of the overturned coach, the rearing horse and the bodies flailing about in the snow is matched only by the fear of the empty, impassive expanse of forest from which no help will come. Overhead the clouds darken and thicken; snow and yet more snow is on its way.The white paint for the rocks and snow has been heaped on, smoothed or scraped back with a palette knife; the forest has been depicted with a dry brush drawn through a layer of black paint on white. Courbet painted several snow scenes and became an acknowledged master of the genre, capturing the light and brilliance of a landscape under snow.

The National Gallery, London

London

Read more on The National Gallery, London
Title

The Diligence in the Snow

Date

1860

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 137.2 x W 199.1 cm

Accession number

NG3242

Acquisition method

Sir Hugh Lane Bequest, 1917

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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Artist or maker

Gustave Courbet

1819–1877

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