Hartmann 1

finished in 1797, exhibits to the viewer a skillful example of conventional late 18 th-century landscape painting. Executed in oil on canvas and measuring about 120 centimeters in width and about 80 centimeters in height, the Frenchman's picture presents a meticulously detailed view of a monastery nestled in the rolling hills of Tuscany. shows us a scene on the banks of a river outside a small village in the Savoy Alps between France and Switzerland. His painting is just slightly larger than Gauffier's with a similar aspect ratio at about 130 centimeters in width and 90 centimeters in height and is also carried out in oil on canvas. At first glance, the two pictures appear to share not only the subject matter – the realistic depiction of a contemporary rural landscape – and their horizontal canvas format, but they also show striking similarities in composition and spatial division of the depicted scenes. Consequently, shared or at least related motives and intended messages might be inferred in both artists. However, closer inspection reveals subtle yet significant differences with which the artists characterize the interaction between humans and their surroundings. While Gauffier's nature is a malleable passive environment, acted upon by people to accommodate their aspirations, Turner's nature is shown as a far less tamed active force that people have to negotiate with and attune to. The earlier Fish Pond (titles will be abbreviated for succinctness hereafter) by Gauffier offers the viewer an impression of a then-well known traveler's destination in Italy. Gauffier divides his composition into three distinct asymmetrically-arranged, yet balanced, spatial zones. In the foreground, three male figures – a monk and two assumed travelers – stand on a small but steep elevation in the lower