POUSSIN, NICOLAS. - French painter, b. at Villers in Normandy in 1594, d. in Rome on Nov. 19, 1665.
Trained in his homeland under the guidance of Quentin Varin, around 1612 he went to Paris to work in the studios of S. Lallement and F. Elle, where he received his first commissions for works that have not come down to us. In 1620 P. made his first journey to Italy, to Florence, whence he soon returned to Paris, beginning his dense series of compositions of mythological inspiration that were to make him famous. In 1624 P. was again in Italy, in Rome, a city he did not leave until his death, with the exception of a relatively brief stay in Paris between 1640 and 1642. And it was in Rome that he created the best of his output, especially in those canvases of historical and mythological inspiration mentioned above and in which the solemn lines of the undulating countryside surrounding the city and its monumental ruins, more than a background, often become true protagonists of the compositions. Among these, scattered through the world's major public and private collections, some of religious subject must also be remembered, such as the Lamentation over Christ in the Pinacoteca of Munich, the Ecstasy of St. Paul in the Louvre, the Last Supper in the same Museum, and finally the Martyrdom of St. Erasmus in the Vatican Pinacoteca.
Initially educated in a mediocrely traditionalist environment, P. had the revelation of his genius through considering the works of Raphael and his direct followers. During his stay in Italy he kept those especially in mind as his path progressed, even when it was enriched by new experiences gained through deepening his knowledge of the painting of Titian, the Carracci and Domenichino.
A serene temperament, an excellent draughtsman, a calm and balanced composer, P. was above all a great colorist. Indeed he was able to trace his way back through the Carraccesque vein to the pure source of Venetian color, to the point of capturing certain accents properly Giorgionesque of Sebastiano del Piombo and the young Titian. A characteristic exponent of that group of foreigners enamored of Italy, who dwelt there for a long time in fruitful activity, P. preserved in his art the straightforwardness of French character and, though living far from his homeland, decisively and lastingly influenced the development of its pictorial culture. Even David, in his programmatic paintings in Rome and in France toward the end of the 18th century, remembered P., and even Corot in his youthful Roman landscapes was able to rediscover certain secrets of the old master in the profound harmony of juxtaposed tones and in the clear distribution of masses defined by limpid light. - See pl. CXXV.
Bibliography4 works
Emilio Lavagnino