Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/508

* COROT. 436 CORPORAL. resolved to lie <a painter. His father made him an allowanoe, upon which Camille managed to sub- sist until financial success crownedhisetiorts. lie tirs-t studied with Jliehallon, and upon the hit- ter's death with Victor Berlin, a classicist and an apostle of the historical landscape. The j'ears IS25 to 1827 he spent in Italy, and in the latter year he made his debut at the Salon with two Italian landscapes — a "View of Narni" and the "Canipagna at Rome." He again went to Italy in 1834 and in 1842, besides traveling in France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and England. But the greater part of his life was passed in Paris and Ville d'Avray, in the forest of Fontaincbleau and the valley of the Seine. In these places he found subjects for his most beautiful pictures. It was some time before his works were recognized, but in his later life honors were heai)ed vipon him. He received medals in 18.33, 1855, and 1857; in 1846 he received the Cross of the Legion of Honor, and in 1857 he was made a commander. The younger artists almost worshiped him, and in 1874 his friends gave him a gold medal to atone for the neglect of the Salon. Dealers sought his pictures, and it is said that in the time of his prosperity his income from sales alone amounted to 200,000 francs a year. But Corot never cared for money except to help his friends, which he did with a lavish liand. He was gentle; jovial, and kind, and the figure of P&re Corot, in his blue blouse and woolen cap. with his long white hair and the in- evitable pipe, brought joy and sunshine. He never married, but was devotedly attached to his sister and his mother. He died in Paris on Feb- ruary 22, 1875. Corot's art naturally falls into two periods, divided from each other by aboiit the year 1843. During the first of these he painted like the con- temporary classicists, very detailed, with careful and severe drawing, but not without a certain charm of color. The influence of this classical training may be seen in the nymphs with which he loved to people his landscapes, and the abso- lute mastery over technique which w'e see in his second period. This may be said to have begun with liis return from Italy in 1843, when he adopted the method of painting in the open air, which had been introduced from England by Constable and others. The works of this second period are the works from which we chiefly know him and which made him famous. Corot was the great lyric poet of the Barbizon School, as Rousseau was the epic, and Dupre the dramatic. As Roiisseau portrayed the strong and vivid side of nature — the oak, of all the trees, the plains, the hills, the river, and the forest — so Corot painted the tender, the wavering, the femi- nine side — the poplar, the birch, the willow, the wild flowers, sweet and shrinking. He was a painter of the misty morning and of the shad- owy evening, of the hazy springtime. A light mist or a haze of atmosphere usually envelops his pictures. As with Rousseau drawing was the most important feature, so with Corot it was color. His pictures are always in a low key: browns, pale greens, and silvery grays are among his favorite colors, but in this sad setting the occasional touches of bright color appear all the more effective. The values of his colors are jier- fect, and above all each picture is an expression of deep sentiment — "the confession of a beautiful soul." His works have well been called painted nuisic, and it is no accident that he was himself a gifted musician. His landscapes have often l)eeii criticised be- cause of their similarity, but they are only simi- lar in theme ; the treatment is infinitely varied. It has also been urged that his works are too even; that they do not contain certain acid tones and little defects which are found in nature and add to the ettect of the picture. Such blemishes might indeed have made his work more realistic, but they would not have harmonized with the softness and delicacy of etl'ect, wdiieh it was his chief effort to obtain. As regards the figures which visually form a part of his picture, whether they be nymphs and goddesses or French peasants, they rather heighten the etl'ect of the landscape than otherwise, and with it they are always in perfect harmony. So great was his technical ability and so vivid his imagination, that his usual method was to paint his works in his studio from sketches and notes taken from nature. Corot has left a large nuinlier of works on a great variety of subjects. During his early ]ieriod he painted many Italian landscapes, and even religious subjects. Of these landscapes there are two good examples which he himself be- queathed to the JIuseum of the Luxembourg, Paris, viz. the "Roman Forum" and "The Coli- seum." Of his religious pictures the "Baptism of Christ," in the Chui-ch of .Saint Nicolas du Char- donnet in Paris, is a good specimen. The land- scapes of his later period are incomparably his best works. Among the best known is the "Dance of the Nymphs," in the Luxembourg Gallery, a fresh morning scene of a peculiar blue tone, and the incomparable "Paysage," in the same collec- tion, showing his marvelous treatment of a lake with overhanging foliage. There are many other good examples in the museums and private col- lections of France, and not a few in America. The jMetropolitan ^luseuni in New York pos- sesses in the "Ville d'Avray" a fine specimen of Corot's dainty treatment of water, foliage, and distant buildings in the earlj' morning light. The faint rose of the sky suggests the coming dawn, and the touches of yellow and blue in the garb of the woman lend a soft brightness to the scene. There are other good examples in the Corcoran Gallery at Washington, in the Art Institute of Chicago, and in the private collec- tions of Philadelphia. But not until the cen- tenary exhibition in Paris in 1880 did men know what modern art possessed in Corot — "the greatest poet and the tenderest soul of the nine- teenth century." Consult: Miither. History of Modern Art (London, ISOO) ; Straiiahan, History of French Painting (New York, 1899): Robinson, "Th. Corot," in Van Dyke's Modern French Masters (New York. 1896) ; Blanc, Les artistes de mon temps (Paris, 1879) ; Roger-Milfes, "Corot," in Les artistes cclrhres (Paris, 1891) ; Rousseau, Vamille Corot (Paris, 1884). CORPORAL (Fr. caporal. It. caporale, cor- poral, from ciipo, head, from Lat. caput, head; influenced by popular etymology with corporal, bodily, or corps, body of troops). A military title of similar relative non-commissioned rank throughout the armies of the world. In the I'nited States it is the lowest non-commissioned rank. It may be preceded by the appointment