Portrait de l'artiste, assis près d'un chevalet.

1825–1828

First trip to Italy

With his parents' support Corot went to Italy to study the Renaissance masters and draw the crumbling monuments of antiquity; his parents' condition was that he paint a self-portrait for them, his first. In three years he completed over 200 drawings and 150 paintings, worked and travelled with several young French painters, and spent most of his time around Rome and in the Italian countryside.

1825–1828

A vow to landscape: no marriage for the sake of painting

Although strongly attracted to Italian women, Corot wrote that he had only one goal in life, to make landscapes, and that this firm resolution kept him from a serious attachment, that is, from marriage. He did in fact forsake any long-term relationships with women and remained very close to his parents even in his fifties.

1827

Salon debut: “View at Narni”

In 1827 Corot sent his first painting to the Salon, “View at Narni”. He transformed a quick study of a ruined Roman aqueduct in bright sun into an idyllic pastoral setting with giant shade trees and green lawns, a conversion meant to appeal to the Neoclassical jurors.