Britannica
Sources used in this answer
What information did Claude Lorrain record in the Liber Veritatis?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Claude Lorrain
Ulysses Returns Chryseis to Her Father, oil on canvas by Claude Lorrain, c. 1644; in the Louvre, Paris. 119 Ć 150 cm.
The Liber Veritatis (or "Book of Truth"), housed in the British Museum, is a volume containing 195 drawings that Claude Lorrain carefully copied from his own paintings.1
Claude recorded the following information on the backs of these drawings:
* The identity of the patron for whom the painting was intended or the specific place for which it was destined.1
* The date of the work (noted in the second half of the book).1
Undertaken as a safeguard against the forgery of his work, the Liber Veritatis was compiled in chronological order. It serves as an invaluable record of the artist's development and his circle of patrons, though it does not include most paintings executed before 1635.1