It almost goes without saying that landscape art, which, even in its
most artificial and “classic” phase is inspired by the love and study
of nature, was sadly neglected in so artificial an age. Among its
leading exponents must be mentioned the two Patels, father and son, of
whose life we have but scant knowledge, and whose pictures resemble one
another’s so closely that it is often difficult to determine which is
by Pierre Patel, the father (1620?-1676), and which by Pierre Antoine
Patel, the son (1648-1708), especially as both adopted the signature,
“P. PATEL.” In the case of the older artist’s _The Exposure of Moses
on the Nile_ (No. 680), and _Moses burying the Egyptian whom he had
Slain_ (No. 681), and his son’s four landscapes representing the
months, _January_ (No. 684), _April_ (No. 685), _August_ (No. 686),
and _September_ (No. 687), all doubts are set aside by the dates which
accompany the signature. Both artists were close followers of Claude
Lorrain, although their precise technique suggests the influence of
Adam Elsheimer.
A truer perception of nature came to France from the North, whence,
indeed, throughout the history of French painting vitality was infused
into an art that was cramped by officially imposed canons of Italian
perfection. As far back as the time of Le Brun, Félibien and Roger de
Piles had begun in the field of literary polemics the long struggle
between the _Poussinistes_ and _Rubenistes_, the adherents of an art
dominated by design and perfect drawing, against the partisans of
colour as a vital element. During the whole seventeenth century the
Poussinistes, who commanded all the official support, held the field,
though the Netherlandish strain was represented by some of the finest
painters of that period, like the brothers Le Nain, C. Lefebvre,
and Philippe de Champaigne. In the eighteenth century the Northern
influence became supreme through Watteau and Chardin on the one hand,
and on the other through Boucher and Fragonard, both of whom were
powerfully influenced by the study of Rubens’s works.