Nicolas Poussin Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Nicolas Poussin
Self portrait by Nicolas Poussin, 1650
Born	(1594-06-00)June 1594 near Les Andelys, Normandy, France
Died	19 November 1665(1665-11-19) (aged 71) Rome, Papal States (now Italy)
Nationality	French
Known for	Painting
Notable work	Et in Arcadia ego, 1637–38
Movement	Classicism Baroque

Nicolas Poussin (June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years Poussin painted more landscapes. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.

Details of Poussin's artistic training are somewhat obscure. Around 1612 he traveled to Paris, where he studied under minor masters and completed his earliest surviving works. His enthusiasm for the Italian works he saw in the royal collections in Paris motivated him to travel to Rome in 1624, where he studied the works of Renaissance and Baroque painters—especially Raphael, who had a powerful influence on his style. He befriended a number of artists who shared his classicizing tendencies, and met important patrons, such as Cardinal Francesco Barberini and the antiquarian Cassiano dal Pozzo. The commissions Poussin received for modestly scaled paintings of religious, mythological, and historical subjects allowed him to develop his individual style in works such as The Death of Germanicus, The Massacre of the Innocents, and the first of his two series of the Seven Sacraments.

He was persuaded to return to France in 1640 to be First Painter to the King but, dissatisfied with the overwhelming workload and the court intrigues, returned permanently to Rome after a little more than a year. Among the important works from his later years are Orion Blinded Searching for the Sun, Landscape with Hercules and Cacus, and The Seasons.

Neoclassicism

Images for kids

The Miracle of Saint Francis Xavier, 1641, Louvre
Time defending Truth from the attacks of Envy and Discord, for the study of Cardinal Richelieu, 1642, Louvre
Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice, 1650–51
Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun, 1658, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Four Seasons (Summer), 1660–1664, Louvre
The Seven Sacraments – Ordination, 1647, Louvre
Et in Arcadia ego (The Shepherds of Arcadia), second version, late 1630s, Louvre
A Dance to the Music of Time, 1640, Wallace Collection, London
Landscape with Saint John on Patmos, late 1630s, Art Institute of Chicago
Landscape with the Ashes of Phocion, 1648, Walker Art Gallery
Landscape with Pyramus and Thisbe, 1651, Städel
The Four Seasons (Spring), c. 1664, The Louvre
Sleeping Venus with Cupid, 1630, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden
The Adoration of the Magi, 1633, Dulwich Picture Gallery, London
The Abduction of the Sabine Women, c. 1633–1634, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Adoration of the Golden Calf, 1633–1634, National Gallery, London
The Crossing of the Red Sea, 1633–1634, National Gallery of Victoria
Helios and Phaeton with Saturn and the Four Seasons, c. 1635
Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter) , c. 1636–1640, Kimbell Art Museum
Holy Family, c. 1649, National Gallery of Ireland
Discovery of Achilles on Skyros, c. 1649–1650, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Landscape with a Calm, 1650–1651, Getty Center
The Annunciation, c. 1655–1657, National Gallery, London

Nicolas Poussin facts for kids

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