The Ford

This picture is accurately recorded in Claude’s Liber Veritatis, the book of drawings the painter made to record his compositions and to protect himself against forgers and imitators. On the back of the drawing Claude noted that the picture was made for Paris, but the client is not named. In the eighteenth century, this painting belonged to Dr. Richard Mead, the famous collector in London. Then, it was called Morning and was paired with another Claude landscape entitled Evening, which had not been conceived as its pendant.