ALIGNY, Claude François Théodore Caruelle d'
French painter Claude François Théodore Caruelle d'Aligny (1798-1871), especially known for his landscape paintings, was descended from a family of artists. Aligny arrived in Paris in 1808, and worked first in painting landscapes on porcelain artefacts. One of Aligny's masters in painting was Louis Étienne Watelet. Aligny follows the tradition of Poussin's landscapes, while Ingres' influence is also patent in his work.
In 1822 he took part in the yearly exhibition of Salon in Paris for the first time. In the years 1824-1827 he travelled in Italy, a tour at the time considered indispensable to an artist's education. Following his return to France in 1827, he participated regularly in the Salon. Aligny lived in Italy again from 1834 to 1836.
After the foundation of the Greek State, Western Europeans continued to be very interested in Greek antiquities, especially the Acropolis. Artists and specialists came to Athens to study and draw the monuments, after the Ottoman builidngs which surrounded them had been demolished. The first restoration of a monument, the temple of Athena Nike, was enthusiastically received by the European press. Aligny travelled to Greece in 1843, with a commission by the Paris School of Fine Arts to make new drawings of the monuments. He published his works in 1845. D'Aligny twice received prizes at the yearly Salons, was awarded the Légion d'honneur and elected director of the Lyon School of Fine Arts in 1860. Several of his paintings and drawings are housed today at museums in France.
D'Aligny's drawings (in charcoal, pencil or pen) are inspired by historical monuments and stories from the Holy Scripture, or Greek and Gaul mythology. D'Aligny was one of the first painters who chose to draw in nature rather than in their workshop. His works give prominence to their main subject, landscape of monument, in detriment of the details.
The drawings are accompanied by short commentaries. These are mostly personal impressions and emotions, unrelated to archaeology. His paintings are marked by sharpness, without intense contrasts or romantic exaltations of the light. The artist's mental conception of the monument, prior to visiting the site, constitutes a marked influence in shaping the work. He prefers desolate locations, stable outlines of buildings and dry landscapes with leathery vegetation. Clarity is the rule in all of his works.
Written by Ioli Vingopoulou
