Countryside in Picardy

Théodore Rousseau

National Gallery of Art

This painting depicts a landscape with an open green field stretching out into the distance. At the bottom of the painting, there is a rocky area with sparse vegetation and yellow, sun-bleached grass. Farther in the distance there are small groups of green trees, and some thatched-roof structures are partially obscured on the right. At the center of the painting there is a small area of red, suggesting a person or two walking along a brown path. Far in the distance there are small dots of white and pink, suggesting flowers or perhaps buildings. The color scheme is earthy and muted, dominated by browns, greens, and grays. The top half of the image is dominated by the sky, with textured white clouds swirling against patches of light blue.