François Diday (1802–1877) studied landscape painting with Wolfgang-Adam Töpffer as a youth and in turn became Calame's most influential teacher. While Calame's reputation soon overshadowed that of his mentor, Diday's works remain some of the most engaging Swiss landscape paintings of the nineteenth century. Like Calame, Diday worked in an academic manner, producing highly finished paintings in his studio that were based on oil sketches made in the open air. Toward the end of his life, however, Diday recognized that his studies were often more compelling than his finished works, stating, "I consider these painted studies after nature to be the most interesting part of my work as an artist."