The Town and Castle of Saumur from across the Loire (Main View)

About 1670, Lambert Doomer made this drawing following an earlier drawing composed during a trip to northern France in 1646. While carefully depicting the town of Saumur's landmarks, he added local citizens and animals to give the vista a picturesque effect. He enlivened the scene with color, using subtle modulations of wash to suggest the sky's atmosphere and light and shadow on the ground.

Doomer made over twenty drawings of Saumur. He centered this composition on the town's château with the river Loire in the foreground. At the foot of the château sits the church of Saint-Pierre. Saumur's other churches, Nôtre-Dame de Natilly and Nôtre-Dame des Ardilliers, appear at the right. The stone structure next to the seated draftsman at left may be the church of Saint-Lambert, an identification supported by the inscription on the verso.