In La Rochelle
The marine painter Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) was born in Avignon shortly before the end of the reign of Louis XIV and died in Paris during the French Revolution. In 1753 Abel-François Poisson de Vandières proposed to Louis XV a series of views of the harbours of France: 24 paintings were ordered and 15 completed, between 1754 and 1765, as Vernet travelled from port to port.
He came to La Rochelle in 1762. The former VisitLaRochelle.com spoke of ten views and called this his only picture of the region: in fact the series counts fifteen canvases, and the same year he also painted the neighbouring naval port of Rochefort. From 1758 the views were made widely known by the engravings of Charles-Nicolas Cochin and Jacques-Philippe Le Bas.
The La Rochelle paintings
View of the Port of La Rochelle, from the Petite Rive (1762)
Vue du port de La Rochelle, prise de la petite Rive looks along the harbour under a golden, cloudy sky: on the quay in the foreground, porters, bales and strolling figures; in the distance, the Saint-Nicolas and Chain towers at the harbour mouth, and on the right the dome of the Grosse-Horloge. Thirteen of the paintings of the series were transferred in 1943 to the Musée national de la Marine, where this one is today; the last two remained at the Louvre.
View of the Port of Rochefort, from the Magasin des Colonies (1762)
Painted the same year, the view of Rochefort shows the royal naval arsenal, a short distance south of La Rochelle, where the Corderie Royale still stands. It too is at the Musée national de la Marine.
The motif today
Vernet’s port is still recognisable: the Saint-Nicolas, Chain and Lantern towers that frame the harbour in 1762 stand at the same place today.
The exact spot where the painter set up his easel is not documented in our sources: the map shows the monuments in the picture.
Sources: Wikipedia (Views of the Ports of France) · Musée national de la Marine · former VisitLaRochelle.com (text and photos, corrected). Checked 14 October 2026.