It was thus Claude Lorraine denominated a book in which he made drawings
of all the pictures he had ever executed. Since even in his own day his
works had obtained a great reputation, it was found that many inferior
artists had painted pictures in his style, and sold them as genuine
Claudes; so that it was found necessary to prove the authenticity of his
paintings by a reference to his “Book of Truth.”
This renowned record of genius is in the possession of the Duke of
Devonshire. The drawings are in number about 200, and upon the back of
the first is a paper pasted, with the following words in Claude’s own
handwriting and orthography:--
“Audi 10 dagosto, 1677. Ce livre aupartien a moy que je faict durant ma
vie. Claudio Gillee Dit le lorains. A Roma ce 23. Aos. 1680.”
When Claude wrote the last date, he was seventy-eight years old, and he
died two years afterwards. On the back of every drawing is the number,
with his monogram, the place for which the picture was painted, and
usually the person by whom it was ordered, and the year; but the
“Claudio fecit” is never wanting. According to his will, this book was
to remain always the property of his own family; and it was so
faithfully kept by his immediate descendants, that all the efforts of
the Cardinal d’Estrées, the French ambassador at Rome, to procure it,
were in vain. His later posterity had so entirely lost all traces of
this pious reverence for it, that they sold it for the trifling price of
200 scudi to a French jeweller, who again sold it in Holland, whence it
came into the possession of the Duke of Devonshire, who preserved it
with due honours. The well-known copies by Barlow, in the work of
Boydell, give but a very vague and monotonous representation of these
splendid drawings.
Dr. Waagen, who inspected the treasure at Devonshire House, says: “The
delicacy, ease, and masterly handling of all, from the slightest
sketches to those most carefully finished, exceed description; the
latter produce, indeed, all the effect of finished pictures. With the
simple material of a pen, and tints of Indian ink, sepia, or bistre,
with some white to bring out the lights, every characteristic of
sunshine or shade, or ‘the incense-breathing morn,’ is perfectly
expressed. Most happily has he employed for this purpose the blue tinge
of the paper, and the warm sepia for the glow of evening. Some are only
drawn with a pen, or the principal forms are slightly sketched in
pencil, with the great masses of light broadly thrown in with white; the
imagination easily fills up the rest.”