Wooded River Banks

Claude began by laying down the main shapes through bold application of washes, then detailed the foliage on the various trees using tiny strokes of his brush. The subtly varying transparency of the different shades of wash clarifies the sense of space around the bushes on the left. They are lit by an intense, shifting light that contrasts with the dark washes used for the trees further back. This sheet lacks framing marks and was probably cut on all four sides.