Ascanius, son of the Trojan leader Aeneas, is hunting in the Roman countryside. Tragically, his actions will lead to war between the Trojans and the Latins.

The silver-toned landscape is harmonious and peaceful. The glittering clouds and the breeze rippling through the tall trees evoke the violence to come.

The poetic scene comes from Virgil’s Aeneid. Claud painted it in Rome in the last year of his life for Prince Lorenzo Onofria Colomna. It was intended as a companion piece to another landscape, Dido and Aeneas before Carthage, painted by Claude in 1675-1676 (Kunsthalle, Hamburg)

Provenance: Presented by Mrs W.F.R Weldon, 1926

Object description
Type: Easel painting
Location: Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Material: Oil on canvas
Artist: Claude Lorrain (c. 1604 or 1605 – 1682)
Date: 1681-82

Image Details
Date: 27 March 2025
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/33s
ISO: 400
Licensing: Image of an Ashmolean Museum asset. This image cannot be licensed.