Port Scene With Ancient Ruins, France, Early 18th Century

Port scene with ancient ruins, oil on canvas, dimensions 43 cm x 54 cm, with its beautiful period giltwood frame, 59 cm x 70 cm, France, early 18th century. This painting depicts a lively port scene in a classical architectural setting. Several sailing ships are moored or underway on a calm sea, bathed in a golden light evoking dawn or dusk. In the background, buildings inspired by Antiquity or the Renaissance—columns, arcades, monumental staircases—structure the composition. Figures in period costumes are busy on the quays: merchants, sailors, and strollers, lending the whole a lively and theatrical atmosphere. The treatment of light, the reflections on the water, and the soft palette of ochre and bluish tones are reminiscent of the paintings of Claude Lorrain.