Group of trees and a resting shepherd (Albertina, Vienna; ink and graphite): a Campagna nature-study of the classic kind — tree-masses drawn against the light, the herdsman resting as scale and pretext; the outdoor practice the essay documents, in one of its finest Vienna sheets.

Tiber landscape north of Rome under a dark, clouded sky (Albertina): weather the paintings excluded — storm-light over the river valley — recorded with the wash-brush's speed; sheets like this prove the sketchbooks caught the Campagna in every mood, not just the golden one.

Tiber landscape with the Castel Sant'Angelo in the distance (Albertina; ink and pencil): the river's bend with Hadrian's fortress-tomb small on the horizon — Rome present as a silhouette at the edge of open country, exactly as the sketching expeditions saw it going out the northern gates.

Landscape with a bridge (National Gallery of Art, Washington; pen, brown ink and black chalk): a crossing observed — arch, water and banks in quick wash: the ford-and-bridge motif of the paintings at its documentary source.

Shepherd with Four Goats (etching; National Gallery of Art impression): the early pastoral plates' type-piece — herdsman and browsing goats in a few bitten lines, the painted world's cast list beginning its printed circulation.

The Goats (etching; NGA impression): the browsing flock alone — Claude's needle at its most rustic; the goat plates were copied by generations of drawing-manual engravers.

The Flight into Egypt (etching; NGA impression): the lifelong sacred subject in its printed form — the family small on the road under big trees: the devotional pastoral, broadcast at print prices across Europe.

The Vision (etching; NGA impression): a sacred apparition breaking over a wooded landscape — the etched œuvre's essay in supernatural light, radiance rendered as spared paper.

The Vision (second NGA impression): another pull of the same plate — the print room's habit of multiple impressions lets states and inkings be compared, connoisseurship's daily bread with Claude's small etched œuvre.

Torrione antico, Fori di Roma (National Gallery of Art): an ancient tower of the Forum district drawn on the spot — the Campo Vaccino's masonry entering the repertoire one monument at a time; the inscription in Claude's rough hand names the place.

Landscape with Brigands (etching; NGA impression): robbery on the road — the campagna's real dangers, which the painted idylls exclude, admitted into the etched one: the dark genre-note Salvator Rosa would build a career on, tried once by Claude's needle.

Landscape with Brigands (second impression): the brigand plate again — its two NGA pulls showing the plate's wear and the subject's popularity: danger sold well in print.

Europa and the Bull (etching): the abduction-shore in miniature — the myth Claude painted across four decades, here entering circulation early; the etched Europa spread the composition long before the painted versions were engraved.

Harbor Scene with Rising Sun (etching): the contre-jour port translated to black and white — the sun's glare achieved with bare paper and graduated bitten lines: the technical marvel of the etched œuvre, and the plate that carried the sun-machine to every print cabinet in Europe.

The Dance on the River Bank (etching): the fête motif in print — the ring of dancers by the water, the Village Fête's matter at portfolio scale.

The Ford (etching): the crossing motif etched — cattle mid-stream in bitten line; the œuvre's daily sacrament, printed for the many.

The Ford (second impression): another pull of the crossing — the NGA's doubled holdings again allowing state-comparison of Claude's most reworked plates.

River landscape (National Gallery of Art; pen and brown ink): the Tiber valley's grammar — bank, bend, screen of trees — in the fluent pen of the mid-1630s campaigns.

The Herd at the Watering Place (etching): drink at day's end — the watering motif in the etched pastoral's warm middle register.

View with trees and a running child (Nationalmuseum, Stockholm): a nature-study interrupted by life — the child's dash caught in two strokes among the tree-work; the sketchbooks' charm is exactly such collisions of the studied and the seen.

Villa di Papa Giulio (National Gallery of Art): Pope Julius's villa outside the Porta del Popolo — a neighbour of Claude's own quarter — drawn from the gardens' side: the suburban Rome the expeditions passed through on the way to open country.

The Cowherd (etching): the celebrated evening plate — herdsman and cattle homeward against the light: among the most admired landscape etchings of the century, ranked by print connoisseurs with Rembrandt's; the etched œuvre's masterpiece of tone.

The Roman Forum (Campo Vaccino) (etching): the painted veduta's printed twin — the cow-field Forum with its arches and columns, etched large in 1636: painting, drawing and print of one site, the multiple-media documentation this catalogue's Louvre entry describes.

Dance under the Trees (etching): the fête again, sheltered by great crowns — the country dance in its woodland setting, the plate's foliage a lesson in bitten-line canopy.

The Country Dance (small plate) (etching): the dance motif at intimate scale — the small plates were the market's favourites, portable Arcadias for the album.

Coast Scene with an Artist (etching): a draughtsman working at the shore — the sketching practice self-portrayed in print, as the Cincinnati painting portrays it in oils: Claude publishing his own method.

Departure for the Fields (etching): the day's setting-out — labourers and beasts leaving at morning: the pastoral's first hour, printed.

Departure for the Fields (second impression): the morning plate again in a second pull — the NGA's Claude print holdings, among the world's best, deliberately double the key plates.

Rebecca and Eliezer ('The Wooden Bridge') (etching): the well-side betrothal of Genesis by a timber crossing — the covenant-pastoral in print, named by collectors for its bridge: subject and structure sharing the title as they share the plate.

The Shipwreck (etching): the sea's violence — masts down, surf, survivors — admitted, like the brigands, only in print: the etched œuvre as the painted one's shadow-side, where storm and danger were permitted.

A draughtsman at Neptune's Grotto, Tivoli (Teylers Museum, Haarlem; ink): an artist drawing inside the falls' cave — the sketching culture portraying itself at its most famous site; the sheet is both record and self-image: this is how the œuvre was mined.