Nicholas Poussin
Born – Les Andelys, France c.1593
Died – Rome, Italy 1665
Poussin is considered as the leading exponent of French Classicist painting. He settled in Paris in 1612. Rather than being influenced by artists still working in a sixteenth-century Mannerist vein, he focused instead on emulating the Antique and studying Classical works of the Renaissance. He paid particular attention to Raphael and to Roman statuary and reliefs. In 1623 Poussin travelled, via Venice, to Rome. Through his contact with the Poet Marino, he began working under the patronage of Cardinal Barberini. Poussin avoided current Baroque tendencies and after 1630 concentrated on mythological subjects; developing to maturity the Classical style for which he is best known. The Venetian painters, particularly Titian, influenced his colouring, injecting verve and vibrancy into sublime, pastoral scenes. In a different mood, works made from the late 1630s, such as Bacchanal and The Rape of the Sabines, illustrates a predilection for more complicated pageantry and austerity. Formal compositional construction identifies Poussin’s growing preference for imbuing his vision with the Classical spirit. In the late 1640s he applied these academic design principles to landscape paintings which mark an achievement that became an entire genre for his counterpart, Claude Lorraine.
Masterpieces:
- The Worship of the Golden Calf
- Orpheus and Eurydice
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.
Books About nicholas poussin
Dance to the Music of Time by Nicholas Poussin
Richard Beresford
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A Catalogue Raisonné Of The Works Of The Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish And French Painters: Nicholas Poussin, Claude Lorraine, And Jean Baptist Greuze
John Smith
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The Seven Sacraments of Nicholas Poussin
Neil Bartlett
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