Les Patel : Paysagistes Du Xviie Siècle

Famous during his time, Pierre Patel (1605-1676) has been considered as one of the best French landscapes painters of the XVIIth century, as testifies Pierre-Jean Mariette who wrote : "Patel is the Claude Lorrain of France", spraking in praise of his "coolness" and his "steadiness". His popularity gets however down through the XIXth century to rebirth at the second part of the XXth.

Even if it is not easy to relate their life and their itinerary (there was quite no serious notes about his sons Claude and Pierre-Antoine), as it has been common to confuse the paintings of the father and his sons, the public is nowadays able to discover the delicacy and the light of their work. Today, the Patel have officially found back their place near Poussin, de Gelée - said Le Lorrain, and de Dughet. An essential document.