A Glimpse in the Forest of Fontainebleau

In this painting by Narcisse Virgilio Díaz de la Peña (French, Bordeaux), we get a glimpse of forest that was so central to the Barbizon painters. Through an opening in the dense foliage of the forest, which completely cuts off a view of the sky, a group of large birch trees is seen, their white trunks gleaming in the sunlight, which bathes the middle distance of the picture. The trees and the figure of a peasant woman gathering wood are reflected in a quiet pool of water.

Díaz de la Peña was a painter of the Barbizon School. He was born in Bordeaux to Spanish parents who had fled the Peninsular Wars. After their early deaths, Diaz grew up in foster care in Meudon. He spent his youth copying paintings at the Louvre. He admired Théodore Rousseau, and eventually became Rousseau’s student, painting at the Forest of Fontainebleau. He is known for his landscapes, which often included peasants and musicians, following a tradition of eighteenth-century decorative landscapes, and for his depictions of storms. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1831, and continued to exhibit there throughout his life.

Photography by Kevin Miyazaki.