Nicolas Poussin
(1594 - 1655) |
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Portraiture, Landscape, Mythological Narratives, Secular Narratives, Historic Narrativds Art Work
| Name: |
Nicolas Poussin |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Les Andelys |
| Nationality: |
French |
| Birth: |
1594 |
| Death: |
1655 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
Click Here |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Portraiture, Landscape, Mythological Narratives, Secular Narratives, Historic Narrativds |
| Medium: |
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| Method: |
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| Style: |
Classical |
| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| Called the greatest French painter of his age, Poussin's life is and was a great paradox. Despite his designation as a French painter, Poussin spent nearly his entire career outside France, preferring Italy (Rome) to his native country. Greatly admired and universally famous, Poussin painted only a handful of public commissions and was actually supported by a relatively small group of private patrons. At the time Poussin's reputation reached its peak in the 1650s, he seems to have painted primarily to suit himself and chose as his subjects themes which could hardly have been widely understood or appreciated. Removed from society, Poussin worked alone without assistants or students. Yet Poussin had many imitators and influenced French seventeenth-century painting more than most active teachers. The French Academy declared him second only to Raphael. Poussin first studied with Quentin Varin in his native town and thereafter with Noel Jouvenet in Rouen. In Paris by 1612, he studied for a short time with Ferdinand Elle, a Flemish portrait painter, and then perhaps with Georges Lallemant. Engravings after Raphael and Guilio Romano, the Roman sculptures, and Titian's paintings in the French royal collection must also have made quite an impression on him. Poussin made three attempts at traveling to Rome, getting as far as Florence the first time and only to Lyon the second. During this time he met Philippe de Champaigne,* with whom he worked for the Queen Mother at Luxembourg (on a now lost project); there he also met his first patron, the Italian poet Marino who was attached to Marie de' Medici's court. For Marino, Poussin drew a series of illustrations of Ovid's Metamorphoses (London, Windsor Castle), which are the only works prior to 1624 securely attributed to him. In 1624 Poussin finally made it to Rome, having spent some months in Venice on his way. There the works of Titian and Bellini must have made a particular impression on him. Poussin's chronology and oeuvre before 1630 have been the topic of much debate and speculation. It was a period of experimentation and quick stylistic adaptation. It seems that he produced small-scale cabinets, as well as large-scale commissions during this period. Two small religious works painted inside garlands of flowers by Daniel Segers still survive, albeit in a somewhat damaged state. One of Poussin's earliest patrons became a lifelong admirer: the knowledgeable antiquarian and secretary to Cardinal Barberini, Commendatore Cassiano dal Pozzo, who had collected numerous objects to show various aspects of life in antiquity. Artists flocked to his collection and drew from it. Poussin gained much knowledge of the classical from Pozzo's collection, as can be seen from the albums containing his drawings (now at Windsor). Among his earliest efforts in Rome were two Old Testament scenes (he often worked in pairs or series): The Victory of Moses (also called the Battle of Joshua against the Amalekites) (St. Petersburg, Hermitage) and the Battle of Joshua against the Amorites (Moscow, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts). Both works demonstrate Poussin's early interest in antique sarcophagus reliefs and in mannerist prints. Another important commission from this period came from Cardinal Francesco Barberini, for whom Poussin painted the Death of Germanicus (dated ca. 1626-28, Minneapolis Institute of Arts). The picture helped establish Poussin's reputation and led to his only public commission, The Martyrdom of St. Erasmus (signed and dated 1628-29, Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana) ordered by Cardinal Barberini for St. Peter's. Critics tended to favor its pendant, The Martyrdom of Sts. Processus and Martinian> which Poussin's compatriot, Valentin,* produced the following year, and Poussin lost to Charles Mellin* the commission to decorate a chapel in San Luigi dei Francesi in 1630. While The Martyrdom of St. Erasmus was criticized, a contemporary picture, the Inspiration of the Poet (Paris, Louvre), is considered one of his great and most original works despite its obvious connections with the paintings of Lotto, Guercino,* and Titian. Poussin may have recognized his shortcomings when working on a large scale because he turned to easel pictures, for which his style and temperament were evidently better suited. Some sources suggest that an illness precipitated this change, but it is much more likely that Poussin was simply adapting himself to circumstances to which he felt more inclined. When Poussin married the painter Gaspard Dughet's* sister Anne-Marie in 1630, the two artists became sufficiently close to share a studio until 1635. Just how they influenced one another remains a matter of debate, but it is generally acknowledged that when Poussin turned to landscape subjects in the 1640s he responded to Gaspard's style, and that later on Gaspard looked to Poussin's treatment of landscape. By 1630 Poussin developed a number of important private patrons, the most notable being Cassiano dal Pozzo. The paintings of 1629-33 reflect Cassiano's antiquarian leanings, as they depict mainly themes taken from ancient mythology: Bacchus, Echo and Narcissus, Apollo and Daphne, Mars, Venus and Adonis, and so on. Even at this early stage of Poussin's development, his personal interpretation of well-known stories is evident, though clearly inspired by Titian. Poussin's choice of narratives is significant: themes involving the transitory nature of life, the fragility of happiness, limits of power and wealth. His love stories are tinged with melancholy or tragedy. Poussin's approach is not sensual but presents material for contemplation and intellectual reflection. Often the subject of meditation is mortality and the paradoxical nature of existence, where death is present even in Arcadia. His method was to juxtapose opposing ideas; he could juxtapose violence with great calm or inject a cautionary note in the most idyllic of visions. Besides mythologies and allegories, Poussin painted a number of traditional religious subjects: Massacre of the Innocents (Chantilly, Musee Cond) or Lamentation over the Dead Christ (Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland; Munich, Alte Pinakothek), for example. Between 1633 and 1637, Poussin's approach underwent another change. He began to choose subjects for their grand effect. Images of pageantry tend to dominate in scenes taken from the Old Testament, such as the wanderings of the children of Israel, the Worship of the Golden Calf, or the Crossing of the Red Sea. His epics are depicted in carefully balanced compositions; movements are stable, nearly frozen in their actions; and the modeling of his forms becomes harder and clearer. In this period he had gained the patronage of an increasingly wide range of clients. Two of his most famous "pairs" of this period are the Crossing of the Red Sea (Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria) and the Adoration of the Golden Calf (London, National Gallery) which were probably commissioned by Cassiano dal Pozzo's cousin Amadeo. Between 1635 and 1636 Cardinal Richelieu commissioned several Bacchanals for his chSteau near Orleans. Though now dispersed, the group is thought to have included the Triumph of Neptune (Philadelphia Museum of Art); Triumph of Pan (London, National Gallery); Triumph of Bacchus (Kansas City, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art); and Triumph of Silenus, known through a copy in London (National Gallery). These paintings, the most purely Venetian in their poetic mood, show Poussin adapting his sources to meet the decorative purpose of this particular group of paintings. Sometime during this period Poussin also received a commission for the first of his series of the Sacraments from Cassiano dal Pozzo. Completed in 1642, the final scene from the series was sent to Cassiano from Paris. Five examples of the seven pictures are still preserved at Belvoir Castle, Leicestershire; The Sacrament of Baptism (doc. 1642) is in the Washington (DC), National Gallery of Art; Penance was lost during a fire at Belvoir Castle in 1816. In this phase of his development Poussin was looking more to the traditions of Greek and Roman sculpture, to the late Raphael, and to Guilio Romano and Mantegna. With the exception of the Richelieu commission, evidence of Poussin's use of Titian seems to wane; and his style becomes harder, more linear and sculptural. His narrative style shows his great interest in a clear and precisely readable narrative, with each pose, each expression, each figure placement deliberately conceived to elucidate his meaning. In the wrong hands such an approach would be deadly, but in Poussin's hands it produces paintings of power and impact. Themes of mortality, such as the Dance to the Music of Time (London, Wallace Collection), anticipate his more intense involvement with such subjects later on. Cardinal Richelieu's commission strengthened Poussin's French reputation and in 1639 he was invited to Paris - much to his regret. In 1640 Poussin was forced to accept a royal invitation to come to Paris to decorate the Long Gallery of the Louvre. While he was there he received numerous other commissions, the most important being The Miracle of St. Francis Xavier (doc. 1641, Paris, Louvre), painted for the Jesuit Church in Paris, and Pentecost, done for Louis XIII's chapel at St. Germain. He apparently chose to rival Vouet* in his Time and Truth Destroying Envy and Discord, painted for Cardinal Richelieu in 1641 (Paris, Louvre). His Parisian sojourn has been called a failure. His basic lack of sympathy for large-scale decorative schemes defeated him; the rivalry and hostility of Vouet and other painters discouraged him. Though his Long Gallery paintings were praised, they are no longer complete and his altarpieces are considered rather stony and dead. In 1642 Poussin returned to Rome, never again to leave. His Parisian sojourn did establish connections with bourgeois patrons who continued to support his work. Among them was Paul Freart de Chantelou, who commissioned a second set of Sacraments, which Poussin reinterpreted in a new way. Though he continued to have many patrons, Poussin slowed his pace of production after his return. Ill health may have produced a less sure hand (as evidenced by his drawings from the period), making it impossible for Poussin to continue at his former pace. Nevertheless, the paintings from this period are today considered among the most excellent of his entire career. The themes Poussin treated in the 1640s changed once again. Religious paintings are based on New Testament stories, particularly the great standard images such as the Holy Family, the Crucifixion, and the Entombment. His seven Sacraments (among his most famous religious works) for Chantelou are treated with greater solemnity and intensity. Old Testament stories are not selected for their pageantry, but for their grave moments in which protagonists confront one another or momentous decisions are made: The Judgement of Solomon, Esther before Ahasuerus. In his choice of classical myths Poussin turns to the stoical philosophers, choosing such heroes as Coriolanus, who sacrificed himself for his country, Scipio, who controlled his lust for the sake of others; Diogenes, who gave up all his earthly possessions; and Phocion, who died for the truth. In his moral themes he concentrates on the will and the intellect triumphing over baser sensual urges, and ultimately accepting mortality as an essential aspect of nature's grand plan. His interpretation of landscape, of architecture, and of figures is guided by principles of mathematical order and of parallel alignment which imposes a single but compelling logic on his imagery. His landscapes seem at once primordial and highly artificial, and they are the serene settings for episodes of tragedy or meditations on death. The drama of the subject is juxtaposed with the most calm surroundings, helping at once to heighten and to reduce the emotional tenor. By contrasting a placid environment with a scene of intense emotionality, the environment lends a gentle yet disquieting irony to the subject while at the same time diffusing the emotion into the essential pattern of existence. In his last twelve years, roughly 1653-65, Poussin's nearly puritanical obsession with severity and simplicity are evident. His emotional expression is reduced to the minimum; compositions are further simplified and restricted; there is also an even greater interest in archaeological accuracy. The surface of his pictures also became increasingly dryer and less sensuously appealing, as Poussin strove for the visual equivalent of an intellectual exercise. His mythologies from this period concentrated on rather elemental allegories. For example, his Landscape with Diana and Orion (dated 1658, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) and his Birth of Bacchus (Cambridge, MA, Fogg Art Museum) contrast the forces of life and death. Themes of death were frequently treated. His Last Testament of Eudamidas (Copenhagen, Statens Museum for Kunst) is considered one of the most compelling images of deathbed scenes ever painted. His Lamentation over Christ (Dublin, National Gallery of Ireland) also yielded elemental, poignant yet noble expressions of grief. Again, the inspiration for his orientation seems to come from the late Stoics, who viewed ancient myths as allegories for nature's great cycle of nature: birth, death, and regeneration. The severity of this approach appears to have relaxed in the early 1660s when, like many other great masters, Poussin re-assessed his youthful style and re-interpreted in it a new, more relaxed, and profound manner. To this period have been ascribed paintings such as the four canvases depicting the Four Seasons (doc. 1660-64, Paris, Louvre) and the Apollo and Daphne (Paris, Louvre), unfinished at his death. Here Poussin seems to have returned to a poetic and lyrical interpretation of landscape, and to have gone beyond the rational limits of subject and interpretation to something more intuitive and elemental. Poussin is respected for having had a seriousness of purpose, for having attained visual forms suited to that purpose, and for having a high moral and intellectual integrity which surpassed that of most of his contemporaries. He developed his theories of various classical modes and their relationship to certain themes: that is, the Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, Hypolidian, Ionic, suitable for grave and wise; intense and martial; tragic; joyful and sweet; or bacchanalian themes, respectively. The degree to which these theories were applied to his own painting is problematic. Equally problematic is his intellectual orientation. To some scholars Poussin remains the most erudite of painters. To others, his was a simple reality translated in a subtle and compelling manner into paint. The fact is that diverse interpretations have been ascribed even to a single one of his paintings, which may say more about the intellectual inclinations of Poussin's scholars than it does about the artist himself. |
Samples of Work
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