Nicolas Poussin was born on June 15, 1594 in Les Andelys, Normandy, France. His mother, Marie de Laisement, was the widow of a lawyer, and Nicolas was destined for the law. His father, who had certain claims to ancient, but minor nobility, came from Soissons and was a military man, turned farmer.
Poussin, who knew Latin from childhood, received a sound education until he was eighteen years old. His proclivity for art provoked the disapproval of his parents, and, in 1612, the presence of Quentin Varin, a minor mannerist painter, in the neighborhood occasioned Poussin's flight from home to Paris.
In Paris, Nicolas studied architecture, perspective and anatomy; the mannerist frescoes of Francesco Primaticcio in Fontainebleau; antique sculpture; and the High Renaissance paintings of Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci and Titian, as well as the engravings of Giulio Romano.
After a brief sojourn with the painter Noël Jouvenet in Rouen, Poussin went to Paris, where the patronage of a young nobleman from Poitou enabled him to frequent the studios of the portraitist Ferdinand Elle and the mannerist painter Georges Lallemand. About 1614, his noble friend took Poussin home to his château in Poitou, but his patron's mother did not like the alliance, and the artist departed on foot, reaching Paris exhausted and ill from malnutrition. After a year's rest with his family in Les Andelys, Poussin returned to Paris to begin a productive career.
Except for a trip to Florence about 1620-1621 and another to Lyons shortly thereafter, Poussin spent the years between about 1616 and 1624, establishing his position in Paris. He frequented intellectual and artistic circles and met the Italian poet Giambattista Marino, for whom he executed a series, known as the "Massimi Drawings". Poussin received commissions from the Jesuit Collège de Clermont in Paris and Notre Dame in Paris. When he left for Rome in 1624, he was a mature artist. On the way, he stopped in Venice, where the works of Titian and Paolo Veronese profoundly influenced him.
Between 1624 and 1630 Poussin's life was characterized by professional vicissitudes and artistic experimentation. He vacillated, though always brilliantly, between his Paris style, based upon the study of Giulio Romano and antique sarcophagi ("Victory of Moses", 1624-1626), the current Roman baroque style of Pietro da Cortona ("Madonna del Pilar"), the Venetian High Renaissance style of Veronese ("Marriage of St. Catherine") and Titian ("The Inspiration of the Poet") and the realistic style of Caravaggio ("Massacre of the Innocents"). The conspicuous success of this period was the "Martyrdom of St. Erasmus" (1628-1629) for an altar in St. Peter's.
In spite of the patronage of the Barberini family, the confusion, resulting from Poussin, seeking his own style among the multiple possibilities, afforded him in Rome, and the fierce competition of Italian, Flemish and French artists resulted in another illness. Poussin decided to abandon the field of official commissions and from then on he devoted himself exclusively to the execution of small cabinet pictures, fastidious in workmanship, for a private and cultivated clientele.
In the 1630's, friendship with Cassiano dal Pozzo, amateur of the antique, led Poussin into a milieu of modest, but genuine scholars. At this time, his concern was poetical, focused upon the dramatic themes of Tasso ("Rinaldo and Armida") and the melancholy of Ovid ("Arcadian Shepherds"). Between 1633 and 1637, his subject matter shifted to the pageantry of the Old Testament ("Adoration of the Magi"), mythology ("Bacchanals" for Cardinal Richelieu) and ancient history ("Rape of the Sabines", two versions). During this time, the coloristic fluidity of Titian, which characterized Poussin's previous period, gave way to a statuesque plasticity of figure style, recalling Raphael's "Mass of Bolsena". Compositions were oriented parallel to the picture plane and delineated by a controlled, linear perspective.
Between 1637 and 1640, this rational tendency increased. Poussin used various pictorial methods of painting to elicit a specific response in the educated observer, trained to understand his expressive purpose in any given work. These were the ancient Greek and Roman modes. His earlier works had been mainly in the Hypolydian mode for joyful subjects of divine glory and paradise and the lonic mode for festive, bacchanalian subject matter. Now they became more austere, in the Dorian mode for stable, grave and severe themes ("The Israelites Collecting Manna"); or martial, in the Phrygian mode for intense and violent themes. Poussin's fondness for the modes was motivated, according to his letter of November 24, 1647, to P. F. de Chantelou, by a desire for didactic clarity in communication. For the sake of readability, his compositions, from the late 1630's, were cautiously planned, the figures sculpturally modeled, the tones restricted to primary colors insistently repeated and the psychological content, underlined by emphatic, sometimes histrionic, gesture and facial expression.
Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu had been urging Poussin's return to Paris since 1638, and, in 1640, he did so. He was given the title of first painter to the king, a yearly pension and lodging in a pavilion of the Tuileries Palace. His princely reception provoked the resentment of the artistic coterie. The official circle expected him to create a French "style" and be able to direct teams of artists and artisans. But Poussin was used to a contemplative atmosphere and to concentrating on a single, meticulously executed work, and the constant demand for adaptability and glib fluency in the creation of altarpieces, decorative ceilings and designs for books, tapestries and furniture was exhausting. Of his many Paris works the best products of that unhappy sojourn were the decorative schemes for the ceilings of the Orangerie in the Luxembourg Palace and for the Grande Galerie of the Louvre.
In September 1642, Poussin returned to Rome. Richelieu and Louis XIII died soon after Poussin reached Rome, enabling him to remain in his adopted country permanently. He passed the rest of his life modestly and placidly in his house in the Via Paolina, refusing countless honors, including the directorship of the Academy of St. Luke. The most important fruit of his Paris visit was a patronage, truly worthy of his talents. Intellectual conservatives of the French upper bourgeoisie, like Chantelou, called forth, through their commissions, the best of the artist's talents, the embodiment of the French classical ideal.
Between 1643 and 1653, Poussin came to grips with the fundamental premise of his creative being, the triumph of human will over the passions, manifest in his works in the domination of intellect over emotion.
In executing his works, Poussin proceeded in the following manner. After a thorough reading of the primary sources, he made a preliminary sketch; he then constructed a small model stage, upon which he could move, like chessmen, actual miniature figures, made of wax. After making further drawings and altering the positions of the figures as he progressed, he made larger models. From these, he painted the final scene, referring occasionally to living models to avoid sterility. Thus, by steady, almost pedestrian, degrees the potentially dramatic theme was simplified to a lofty understatement. Such laborious procedures, dangerously susceptible to stereotyping by imitators, were adopted until 1690 for teaching purposes by Charles Le Brun in the Paris academic program; they also explain the objection, among even cultivated critics, to Poussin's not infrequent statuesque sterility and coloristic coldness in the works of his mature period.
In Poussin's late period, he moved beyond the somewhat self-conscious and mechanical means just described. The triumph of human will over the passions, or intellect over emotion, became an ultimate statement of the reign of universal harmony over the seeming chaos of nature and human life. This final conviction is most telling in such works, as "Apollo and Daphne" (1664), sometimes called his spiritual testament to the world, and "Summer and Autumn", two of the cycle of the four seasons (1660-1664).
After 1650, Poussin suffered from declining health and was troubled by a worsening tremor in his hand, the evidence of which is apparent in his late drawings.
A Frenchman, who spent almost his entire working life in Rome, Nicolas Poussin is considered the founder of the French classical tradition. While in Rome, he specialized in history paintings, depicting scenes from the Bible, ancient history and mythology, that are notable for their narrative clarity and dramatic force. Poussin's best-known work is "Et in Arcadia ego". It is held in the Louvre, Paris.
Poussin is admired for his strong use of color and his inclination to prioritize the cerebral over the emotional. He was able to demonstrate, that art could be an intellectual pursuit, and through his layering of meaning he produced paintings of extraordinary dramatic depth and allegorical complexity.
Though his reputation was eclipsed in the first half of the 18th century, it enjoyed a spectacular revival later that century in the Neoclassical art of Jacques-Louis David and his followers and has remained high ever since.
Landscape with St. James in Patmos
Bacchanal Before a Statue of Pan
Pieta
Holy Family with Angels
Extreme Unction
The Realm of Flora
The Summer (Ruth and Boaz)
Bacchic Scene
The Ashes of Phocion Collected by his Widow
Venus Weeping over Adonis
Esther Before Ahasuerus
Triumph of Neptune
The Birth of Baccus
The Death of Saphire
Hagar and the Angel
Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun
Landscape with Diogenes
Autumn (The Spies with the Grapes of the Promised Land)
Venus Presenting Arms to Aeneas
A Roman Road
Venus and Adonis
Tancred and Erminia
The Death of Germanicus
Landscape with St. Matthew and the Angel
Eucharist
Victory of Joshua over Amorites
Virgin and Child
Baby Moses Trampling on the Pharaoh's Crown
Penance
The Flight into Egypt
Stormy Landscape with Pyramus and Thisbe
Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites
The Testament of Eudamidas
Adoration of the Shepherds
Martyrdom of St. Erasmus
The Last Supper
Sleeping Venus, Surprised by Satyr
Cephalus and Aurora
Marriage
Ordination
Extreme Unction
The Infant Jupiter Nurtured by the Goat Amalthea
Selene and Endymion
The Continence of Scipio
Orpheus and Eurydice
Acis and Galatea
The Apparition of the Virgin the St. James the Great
The Holy Family
Moses Striking Water from the Rock
The Finding of Moses
Winter (The Flood)
Cephalus and Aurora
The Nurture of Jupiter
Andrians or The Great Bacchanal with Woman Playing a Lute
The Triumph of Flora
Ideal Landscape
The Destruction of the Temple at Jerusalem
Narcissus and Echo
Assumption of the Virgin
Landscape with a Man Killed by a Snake
Truth Stolen Away by Time Beyond the Reach of Envy and Discord
Apollo and the Muses
The Miracle of St. Francis Xavier
Spring (The Earthly Paradise)
Rape of the Sabine Women
Pan and Syrinx
Confirmation
The Exposition of Moses
St. Cecilia
The Adoration of the Golden Calf
Midas Washing at the Source of the River Pactolus
Self-Portrait
Rinaldo and Armida
Battle of Gideon Against the Midianites
Et in Arcadia Ego
Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus
Descend from the Cross
The Marriage of the Virgin
Mars and Venus
Apollo and Daphne
Holy Family on the Steps
The Holy Family with St. Elizabeth and John the Baptist
Rinaldo and Armida
Adoration of the Magi
Lamentation over the Body of Christ
The Confirmation
Queen Zenobia Found on the Banks of the Arax
The Crossing of the Red Sea
Shepherds of Arcadia
The Plague at Ashod
Christ and the Adulteress
Moses Striking Water from the Rock
Landscape with Polyphemus
The Vision of St. Paul
The Massacre of the Innocents
The Poet's Inspiration
Institution of the Eucharist
Dance to the Music of Time
Sleeping Venus and Cupid
Rest on the Escape to Egypt
The Saving of the Infant Pyrrhus
Bacchanal of Putti
Midas and Bacchus
Echo and Narcissus
The Triumph of David
The Assumption of the Virgin
Gathering of Manna
Nurture of Bacchus
Baptism
Landscape with the Funeral of Phocion
St. John Baptising the People
The Finding of Moses
Eliezer and Rebecca at the Well
Holy Family
Little is known of Poussin's religious beliefs, though he certainly did not endorse the ecstatic Catholicism of Counter-Reformation Rome.
By the early 1630's, Poussin had rejected the expressive Mannerist style in favor of a more controlled approach to composition. Taking his lead from Classicism and Raphael over Venice and Titian, Poussin demonstrated his aspiration to use painting to communicate concepts and ideals through the fusion of different mythological and classical themes. He wanted his paintings to engage the spectator by making extra demands of their powers of reflection.
Poussin developed and practiced a highly symmetric approach. His precise geometrical organization, coupled with visual allegories, borrowed from the Hellenic philosophy of Stoicism. Poussin wanted to convey universal ideas about human experience and existence. He believed, that people are all subject to forces outside their control and the only way to a contented existence was through logical thought and personal self-control.
In his later paintings, Poussin turned to a darker palette and freer compositional formations to represent the relationship between the natural environment and the mind. He painted expressive landscapes as a way of communicating conflicted or untamed human emotions. Poussin hoped, that this would bring about a higher cerebral connection with his spectator.
Quotations:
"The colours in the paintings are like the illusions, that convince the eyes, similar to the beauty of the verses in poetry."
"The purpose of art is delectation."
"The idea of beauty does not descend into matter unless this is prepared as carefully as possible. This preparation consists of three things: arrangement, measure and aspect or form."
"Drawing is the skeleton of what you do and color is its flesh."
"Colors in painting are as allurements for persuading the eyes, as the sweetness of meter is in poetry."
Poussin's sober personality and his carefully thought out theories of art have earned him the nickname of "the philosopher painter".
Physical Characteristics: After 1650, in addition to Poussin's poor health, he was troubled by a worsening tremor in his hand.
Quotes from others about the person
"Nicolas Poussin believed, that virtue and wisdom could be transmitted to humanity by paintings. All of his works, in particular those of his later years, illustrate this conviction. Yet nevertheless, his paintings do not easily offer themselves up for viewing. Apart from in a few admirable drawings, they do not reveal this or that side of nature, but develop themes under a sublime register, which, by definition, cannot be derived from important models: not those of landscapes, if not those, that are heroic, nor those of still lives in his works. Despite his claims, and contrary to Velázquez, enjoyment is not his aim." - Avigdor Arikha, a painter, draughtsman, printmaker and art historian
"Mr. Poussin wanted to depict - through the movement of parts at the top of the face - the sweetness and tranquillity, enjoyed by those in a perfect state of grace and - through the parts at the bottom - the contempt and aversion, that they have for things of the world." - Charles Le Brun, a painter, physiognomist and art theorist
"Poussin placed the bar very high; one cannot penetrate one's world easily. Even though he remains the favourite artist of many painters and art historians, even though his prestige among amateurs is immense, he shall remain difficult to comprehend for a large proportion of people. It is not possible to look at his paintings quickly; it requires effort, and this effort takes time." - Pierre Rosenberg, an art historian, curator and professor
In 1630, Poussin married Anne-Marie Dughet, the daughter of Jacques Dughet.
Marie de Laisement was born approximately in 1560.
Anne-Marie Dughet passed away in 1664.
Jacques Dughet was born between about 1548 and 1608.
Giovanni Pietro Bellori (born January 15, 1613 - died February 19, 1696) was an Italian painter and antiquarian. However, he was best known as a prominent biographer of artists of the 17th century, equivalent to Giorgio Vasari in the 16th century.
(born 1650 - died 1698)
