Nicolas Poussin
Biography and Paintings of Artist and Founder of French Classical Painting
Visual Arts Guide

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

One of the most respected Old Masters, French painter Nicolas Poussin was best known for his classical style history painting. Influenced by historical Greek and Roman mythology as well as by Italian artists like Caravaggio and Marcantonio, his most notable works include Rape of the Sabine Woman, 1637 (Louvre, Paris) and The Continence of Scipio, 1640 (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow).

Born in 1594 near Les Andelys, in Normandy, he came from a relatively poor family. It is clear however that he received some education as a child and studied Latin, which was to prove useful later in life. His early drawing was noticed by a local artist, Quentin Varin, who decided to teach him. At the age of eighteen, Poussin moved to Paris and entered the studio of Dutch artist Ferdinand Elle, and then the atelier of Georges Lallemand one of the leading French mannerist artiststs. He also studied the engravings of the Italian printmaker Marcantonio which strongly influenced him.

After a short study trip to Venice to study the Renaissance masters, he moved to Rome in 1624, where he was to remain most of his painting life. The next five years were an intensively active period, and his success was highlighted when he was commissioned to paint an altarpiece for the Chapel in St. Peter’s Cathedral. This piece, the Martyrdom of St. Erasmus, 1628 showed he was working in the Baroque style, which was dominant in Europe at the time. However the altarpiece did not bring him the acclaim he had hoped, and disappointed by this, he never attempted to paint in a Baroque style again. Instead he moved towards a more intellectual, restrained type of art which was later to appeal to later neo-classical French artists, like Jacques Louis David. Works from this early period reflect a certain carefree happiness, perhaps as in 1629 he married his landlord's daughter, Anna Maria. Paintings from this time include The Rescue of Pyrrhus, 1634, The Rape of the Sabine Women, The Destruction of Jerusalem, 1637, Hebrews Gathering Manna, 1639 and The Continence of Scipio.

He returned to Paris briefly for 2 years, as court painter to King Louis XIII. During those 2 years he painted several pictures for the King including The Last Supper (painted for Versailles but now in the Louvre) and the series of The Labors of Hercules (Louvre). In 1643 he returned to Rome and went on to produce many works including Moses Rescued from the Waters, 1647, Eliezer and Rebecca, 1648, The Judgment of Solomon, 1649, Landscape with Polyphemus, 1649, The Blind Men of Jericho, 1650 and The Adulteress, 1653. He was attracted to situations where the moral characters of his subjects revealed and exposed themselves, almost like on a stage. He had a box of wax figures which he would set up to build his composition, then made preliminary sketches, and only when he was satisfied, would he start painting.

On the insistence of the French King, he returned once more to Paris in 1640 and was put in charge of all artistic works in the King's palaces. For 2 years he painted altarpieces and supervised the decorative work in the Louvre. Envious contemporaries who were jealous of his appointment surrounded him, and he soon fled back to Rome. He continued to work mainly in the historical (istoria) genre. His most important work from this late Roman period is his series Seasons, 1660-64. He started to suffer from ill health in 1650, and finally in 1665 he died at the age of 71.

Poussin was a prolific artist, but it is unfortunate that many of his paintings have not stood the test of time, the colours in many of his paintings have faded or changed. As a result, the overall harmony of his works can sometimes be better seen in his engravings. Other great French artists including, Claudine Stella, Bernard Picart and Antoine Pesne reproduced many of his engravings. Poussin's interpretation of historical Greek and Roman mythology went on to influence generations of famous artists. The French artist Jacques-Louis David empathized with Poussin's classical severity, his clarity, order and logical treatment of his works.

...For a mini-biography of one of the most oustanding classical painters and sculptors in the history of Western art, and the greatest artist of the Italian Renaissance, see Michelangelo.

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