View on the Outskirts of Caen1872/1875

The painting shows an elevated perspective overlooking a landscape with green hills and leafy trees. Closest to us, there are cream-colored buildings among dense foliage. These buildings have roofs in shades of pale blue-gray and reddish-brown, and the one in the center has wispy white smoke coming out of a chimney. In the distance on the left, a large, low structure sits atop a hill, with faint paths winding towards it through the green landscape. Beyond the trees, the distant landscape on the right is painted in shades of pale blue and green. The sky above is filled with puffy clouds in shades of gray.

Description from the National Gallery of Art.

Stanislas Lépine painted this in 1872/1875, aged about 37. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

How it was made

Oil on panel

Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.

Oil paint

Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.