Poussin was born in Normandy, in Les-Andelys, in 1594. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. 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. Above all the painter finds his inspiration in poetic subjects > The Inspiration of the Poet • 1630-1640 : 1st period in Rome. in a more rigorous manner: The Adoration of the Magi, The Adoration of the Golden Calf or The Crossing of the Red Sea. His father served in a senior position under Karl IX and Henry of Navarra. Nicolas Poussin is a French painter who is generally credited for having pioneered the classic French painting style. Poussin turns towards classic allegory and paints the first series of the Seven Sacraments for Cassiano dal Pozzo, which portrays the liturgy of the first Christians and in which the style of this first period in Rome finds completion. He works at his own pace for this small base of clients, taking time to prepare each of his compositions meticulously. Biography of POUSSIN, Nicolas (b. Author of. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Nicolas Poussin, (born June 1594, Les Andelys, Normandy [France]—died November 19, 1665, Rome, Papal States [Italy]), French painter and draftsman who founded the French Classical tradition. The fruits of these studies are apparent in his first great masterpiece, The Death of Germanicus (1627), painted for Cardinal Francesco Barberini. November 1665 in Rom) war ein französischer Maler des klassizistischen Barocks. About 1622 Poussin executed six large tempera paintings for the Jesuits (none of those survive), and in the following year he received a commission for a painting in a Notre-Dame chapel. Nicolas Poussin was a French artist known for his paintings and drawings of Arcadian landscapes and historic narratives. His work is a salient example of lucid control by the mind over the senses. Nicolas Poussin was born in the town of Les Andelys in Normandy in June, 1594. His clientele changes; from this point on, he seems to depend on a circle of experts, including Commendatore Cassiano dal Pozzo who is collecting documents illustrating life in ancient Rome and calls on artists to draw various accounts of imperial Rome: classical sculpture, ancient architecture. We see the influence of Descartes in the mathematical construction of the space in the painting, for example in The Holy Family on the Steps dating from 1648, where the whole space is organised in geometric terms. Nicolas Poussin, the greatest French artist of the 17th century, is considered one of the founders of European classicism, a movement in art, based on antique and Renaissance heritage. Actif aussi en Italie à partir de 1624. « Cette toile est le plus grand des deux fragments d'une peinture de Poussin. Above all the painter finds his inspiration in poetic subjects > The Inspiration of the Poet Poussin wurde als Sohn eines verarmten Landedelmanns und ehemaligen Soldaten der königlichen Armee geboren. Landscapes give new impetus to his creations. He later went on to Paris, where he worked under minor artists who painted in a style that combined the Mannerism of the Second School of Fountainbleau with certain aspects of Italian baroque art. Buy Poussin Prints Now from Amazon. Poussin served his apprenticeship in Rome by making copies after antiquity and the masters of the Renaissance and by studying the works of the Classicizing artists of his own day, including the Bolognese painter Domenichino. Nicolas Poussin naît en juin 1594 au hameau de Villers dans l'actuelle commune des Andelys. 1637 Omissions? Nicolas Poussin est leur fils unique. Most were never finished, but experimented with different variants of the same theme. Nicolas Poussin Villers 1594 - Lucina 1665 Nicolas Poussin was born in the Normandy town of Villers-en-Vexin in 1594, where he spent his childhood on his father's farm near the Norman village Les Andelys. Depuis 1624, actif aussi en Italie. Nicolas Poussin was a highly skilled draughtsman who produced endless numbers of study drawings in preparation for his complex painted compositions. Ses compositions ont influencé après sa mort de nombreux peintres ; mais aussi certains courants du XXe siècle comme le cubisme. L'un des plus grands maîtres classiques de la peinture française, génie européen, comme le rappelle l'exposition Nicolas Poussin de 1994 à Paris, à l'occasion de la célébratio… Returns to Paris in December, under pressure from Sublet de Noyers and, indirectly, Louis XIII and Richelieu. Find an in-depth biography, exhibitions, original artworks for sale, the latest news, and sold auction prices. One year later, Pozzo assisted him in securing the commission for The Martyrdom of St. Erasmus, an altarpiece for St. Peter’s. This evolution is obvious in the second version of The Arcadian Shepherds, which is calculated, contemplative and philosophical whilst the first version was much more spontaneous, lively and poetic. Nicolas Poussin was born near the town in Les Andelys in Normandy in 1594. The period that follows is the most fruitful of his career, resulting in the most perfect expressions of French classicism. The Israelites Gathering the Manna in the Desert. However, an increasing level of skill in draftsmanship and use of colour in the large number of paintings datable to this period have led to a general consensus among scholars of the progression of his art between 1624 and 1627. Destitute, Poussin executed a large number of biblical and mythological paintings in the hope of finding buyers. Her brother, Gaspard Dughet, eventually became one of the foremost landscape painters of 17th-century Rome and took the surname Poussin from his more-illustrious brother-in-law. A French classical painter, Nicolas Poussin has been an inspiration for countless number of great artists since the 17th century. Until the discovery of The Death of the Virgin, the so-called “Marino drawings” were the only certain works to survive from his pre-Roman years. Nicolas Poussin’s early biographer was his friend Giovanni Pietro Bellori, who relates that Poussin was born near Les Andelys in Normandy and that he received an education that included some Latin, which would stand him in good stead. He tries, and fails, to go to Rome on two occasions, then returns to Paris where he meets Philippe de Champaigne and works with him for the Queen Mother at the Luxembourg Palace. 1665 (November) A period when, with access to the royal library, he studies the engraved prints of Raphael and Giulio Romano, statuary and antique patterns and the décor of the Second School of Fontainebleau, drawing on stylistic elements. Huile sur toile, 80 × 87,5 cm, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Londres. Arrives in Rome, after having spent several months in Venice. • 1642-1650 : The most fruitful period of his career, creating the most perfect expressions of French classicism, where he seeks the concentration of effects rather than their richness by limiting vocabulary as much as possible > 2d version of The Arcadian Shepherds, 2d set of Seven Sacraments, Eliezer and Rebecca… Serenity and simplicity are found in his figured scenes, eliminating almost all picturesque detail. Dictionnaire biographique des célébrités et personnages historiques. Corrections? His earliest works are characterized by a sensuality and colouristic richness indebted to Venetian art, especially to Titian, but by 1633 Poussin had repudiated this overtly seductive style in favour of a more rational and disciplined manner that owed much to the Classicism of Raphael and antiquity. He creates a new genre, the “ideal landscape”, recomposed in the studio, where we find the idea of an intimate liaison between nature and man, put in its place at the centre of a majestic setting – a derivative of his neo-stoicism. Une image plus petite avec putto musicien se trouvait probablement à gauche de ce fragme… The misfortunes of god are once again opposed with the eternal grandeur of nature, which works alone to provide the formal structure of the painting. At the end of the 1640s, the landscape becomes the indifferent location of the ephemeral destiny of man (The Funeral of Phocion), rigorously constructed upon an intellectual mode, in opposition with the misfortunes of human destinies. Soon after his arrival, his early champion, Marino, moved from Rome to Naples, where he died in 1625. He was schooled in many subjects, including Latin and letters, but showed a talent for drawing (he was apparently scolded by his teachers for doodling in his books). Nicolas Poussin Biography. He does not leave the Eternal City again. The Notre-Dame painting, The Death of the Virgin (1623), went missing following the French Revolution and was known until the 21st century only by a preparatory drawing. • 1650-1665 : The landscape is taking a dominant place in his last compositions, where nature takes on a new character: no longer orderly and subject to the laws of reason but wild, invading the painting where man occupies an increasingly negligible space > The Four Seasons – synthesis of his late style, Landscape with Diana and Orion Poussin was born in Normandy, in Les-Andelys, in 1594. These works reveal the influence of the art of Venice—which he had visited en route to Rome—in their glowing colourism and loosely constructed compositions. Professor of Fine Art; Director, The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Updates? Vénus et Mercure (1626-27). Born in or near the town of Les Andelys in Normandy, Poussin received an education in Latin and letters, but early on he showed an inclination for drawing. Courte biographie de Nicolas Poussin : les dates clés • 1594 : Naissance près des Andelys (Normandie, France) • 1624 : Arrivée à Rome, 1ère commande importante pour Saint-Pierre.Le peintre trouve surtout son inspiration dans des sujets poétiques > L’Inspiration du Poète Biography; Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin. He was schooled in many subjects, including Latin and letters, but showed a talent for drawing (he was apparently scolded by his teachers for doodling in his books). Biographie, portrait pour connaître la vie, naissance et mort d'un personnage historique, de notre histoire, célèbre ou méconnu. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. POUSSIN, NICOLAS (1594 – 1665). Apollo in Love with Daphne, painted in 1664 and incomplete upon his death, summarises the strange traits of his final period: the wildness and grandeur of the inanimate, calm and emotionless nature of the human actors, which come directly from the mind of the artist. He was the child of a noble family who had fallen on hard times. 1594, Les Andelys, d. 1665, Roma) in the Web Gallery of Art, a searchable image collection and database of European painting, sculpture and architecture (200-1900) The works for the Jesuits brought him to the attention of the Italian poet Giambattista Marino, who commissioned a series of drawings based on Ovidian mythology and encouraged Poussin to visit Italy. During this time, he meets his first patron, Italian Giambattista Marino, known in France as the “Cavalier Marin”, poet to Marie de Medici, who commissions him to do a suite of drawings illustrating Ovid’s Metamorphoses. He is charged with creating two altarpieces, painting two large allegoric canvases for Richelieu and decorating the Grande Galerie of the Louvre Palace, even though he has become used to small canvases. Nicolas Poussin : biographie, actualités et … Determining the exact chronology of his works during these years is highly problematic. Many of these works are poetic mythologies on themes of unrequited love, which are pervaded by an air of languor and melancholy. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Nicolas Poussin - Nicolas Poussin - The final years: Poussin continued to paint three or four pictures a year in the 1650s, despite being increasingly ill. We do not know much about Poussin up until his thirties. Inspired by comparable compositions on ancient sarcophagi, this is the first heroic deathbed scene in the artist’s career—and in the entire history of painting—and it spawned countless later imitations. Nicolas Poussin was born near the town in Les Andelys in Normandy in 1594. 1611 The featured people are reduced to simple geometric forms. Nicolas Poussin was a famous French painter and draftsman who became a central figure of the Roman and European art in the seventeenth century. Falling victim to intrigues on the part of Parisian painters, including Simon Vouet, he decides to return to Rome in September 1642. Nicolas Poussin, (born June 1594, Les Andelys, Normandy [France]—died November 19, 1665, Rome, Papal States [Italy]), French painter and draftsman who … 1624 Peintre d'histoire, compositions religieuses, mythologiques, à personnages, ou encore de paysages animés. In the spring of 1624 Poussin arrived in Rome, where—except for a stay in Paris during 1640–42—he was to remain for the rest of his life. Biography Charles de la Vallée Poussin's father was the professor of mineralogy and geology at the University of Louvain for around 40 years. Aged 17, Poussin left Normandy for bigger and better things, namely the bustling metropolis of Paris. This date represents a turning point: Poussin abandons the search for public orders and their large compositions for Roman churches and palaces to concentrate on medium-sized canvases for a group of very prudent collectors. With Moses saved from the Water, painted in 1651, Poussin succeeds in translating the commotion of the women discovering the child through the contrast of the drapery. L’art de Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) est réputé difficile et réservé aux seuls initiés. Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665): Biography of Classical Baroque Painter, Noted for Allegorical Paintings like Rape of the Sabine Women (Louvre) Nicolas Poussin Biography of French Classical Baroque Painter. Main source (see bibliography): A short biography of Nicolas Poussin : key dates • 1594 : Born near Les Andelys (Normandy, France) • 1624 : Arrives in Rome, 1st significant order for Saint-Pierre. His first years there were marked by hardship and misfortune. Nicolas Poussin was born near Les Andelys in Normandy where he began his study of art. The artist executed the majority of his canvases in this intensely idealized style. In terms of religious themes, he now prefers the New Testament and the fundamental subjects of the Gospels – the Holy Family, the crucifixion, the burial – and works with variations surrounding the victory of will on the passions of stoic Roman historians. Biography of Nicolas Poussin. Poussin’s artistic mastery is really revealed in The Empire of Flora, a complex composition painted 1631. Many of these works depict the Holy Family, a purely contemplative theme ideally suited to the serenity of his art during that phase. View Nicolas Poussin’s 604 artworks on artnet. Sa mère est Marie de Laisement (née vers 1560), la fille d'un échevin de la ville et jeune veuve quand elle se marie à Jean en 1592. MAIN A-Z INDEX - A-Z of ARTISTS. Poussin seeks to translate the emotions of different people through their gestures and facial expressions: the viewer should be able to feel what is felt by each actor and to decipher their role in history (The rape of the Sabine Women, The Israelites Gathering the Manna in the Desert). Here we find the application of his theory of modes: the painting deals with human actions and has to present them in harmony with reason, in a logical and orderly manner, addressing the spirit, not the eye, with each subject demanding its own specific treatment. Nicolas Poussin, né au hameau de Villers, commune des Andelys, le 15 juin 1594, décédé à Rome le 19 novembre 1665, est un peintre français du XVIIe siècle, représentant majeur du classicisme pictural. See available paintings, works on paper, and prints and multiples for sale and learn about the artist. • 1630-1640 : 1st period in Rome. Nicolas Poussin [pu'sɛ̃] (* 15. In their emotional intensity these pictures reveal an ardent Romanticism in the young Poussin that he would soon suppress. Poussin was a leading pioneer of the classical French Baroque style. Nicolas Poussin's early biographer was his friend Giovanni Pietro Bellori, who relates that Poussin was born near Les Andelys in Normandy and that he received an education that included some Latin, which would stand him in good stead. Following an illness and a wedding, Poussin abandons the large compositions of public orders to concentrate on medium-sized canvases for his group of very prudent collectors > The Empire of Flora, The rape of the Sabine Women, The Manna, 1st set of Seven Sacraments Nicolas Poussin, né au hameau de Villers, commune des Andelys, en juin 1594, mort à Rome le 19 novembre 1665, est un peintre français du XVII e siècle, représentant majeur du classicisme pictural. 1594 (June) During this period he was introduced to engravings after the masters of the Italian Renaissance; this work inspired in him such enthusiasm that he made two attempts to visit Rome, both abortive, between 1619 and 1622. Nicolas Poussin naît en 1594 en Normandie. Following a serious illness, he marries Anna Maria Dughet, the daughter of a French chef who cared for him, whose brother, Gaspard Dughet, later becomes his pupil. Biography. Poussin’s altarpiece did not meet with critical acclaim, however, and it effectively helped to end his career as a public painter in Rome. Your email address will not be published. Le nom de Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) est associé au classicisme français et au règne de Louis XIII, bien que l’artiste ait passé la majeure partie de sa carrière à Rome. Required fields are marked *. Biographies, portraits, vie et oeuvre des personnages célèbres ou méconnus de France. Vie et oeuvre du peintre Nicolas Poussin. The painting was discovered in a small church in the town of Sterrebeek outside Brussels and restored. 1612 Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). About 1612 Poussin departed for Paris, where he studied anatomy, perspective, and architecture and worked with the minor masters Georges Lallemand and Ferdinand Elle. In Paris, most likely working at the studio of Nancy-born Georges Lallemant. His early sketches attracted the notice of Quentin Varin, who passed some … Il est le fils de Jean Poussin (né vers 1555-1560), né d'une petite famille noble de Soissons et arrivé en Normandie après la prise de Vernon en 1590 pendant les guerres de religion. Detail from, The Great Bacchanal With Woman Playing A … Poussin departs for Rome under the pretence of going to find his wife. Among these is Paul Freart de Chantelou, secretary to Sublet de Noyers, with whom he maintains extensive correspondence, which provides a wealth of information on his existence, his ideas and his way of working throughout the coming years. Il suit des études probablement dans une école élémentaire puis dans un c… Nicolas Poussin Biography Nicolas Poussin, the greatest French artist of the 17th century, is considered one of the founders of European classicism, a movement in art, based on antique and Renaissance heritage. 1633 The result does not necessarily convince everyone, but he succeeds in forming a real circle of admirers who are faithful clients and follow him for what remains of his life. Nicolas Poussin Biography. Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), one of the greatest French painters, rationally synthesized the diverse tendencies of French and Italian art. Sometimes painting traditional religious subjects such as The Massacre of the Innocents, above all he finds his inspiration in poetic subjects, acquiring, for example, an original and very classical style in the painting held at the Louvre Museum, The Inspiration of the Poet, and in tragic subjects like Tancred and Erminia. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nicolas-Poussin, The Metropolitan Museum of Art - Biography of Nicolas Poussin, Web Gallery of Art - Biography of Nicolas Poussin, Art Encyclopedia - Biography of Nicolas Poussin, National Gallery of Art - Biography of Nicolas Poussin, Nicolas Poussin - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). • 1665 : Dies in Rome. Biographie courte de Nicolas Poussin - Nicolas Poussin est un peintre français du XVIIe siècle, grande figure du classicisme. Toward the end of his life, Poussin’s art underwent a further transformation as he diversified to depict landscapes and a group of profoundly pantheistic allegorical works that were ultimately concerned with the order and harmony of nature. The same applies to the second series of the Seven Sacraments, which was completed for Chantelou between 1644 et 1648 and is considerably more solemn than the first (the Eucharist) is a good example as one of the most serious works by Poussin). Histoire France, Patrimoine. The French Baroquepainter Quentin Varin came across his work whilst passing through Poussin's town and encouraged him to go into p… Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The calmness is accentuated to the extreme; the expression of faces is reduced to a minimum. Having worked pretty much all of his life in Rome, Poussin is renowned for his paintings that depicted mythology and ancient history. This talent was encouraged by the itinerant painter Quentin Varin, who visited Les Andelys in 1611–12 and became Poussin’s first teacher. • 1624 : Arrives in Rome, 1st significant order for Saint-Pierre. Nicolas Poussin was born in Les Andelys on June 15, 1594 and showed a talent for drawing early on. Born near Les Andelys (Normandy, France). Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Another early friend and biographer, André Félibien, reported that "He was busy without cease filling his sketchbooks with an infinite number of different figures which only his imagination could produce." The composition is stripped back, constructed using horizontals and verticals only. Around 1633-1634, his reputation reaches Paris and his paintings are sent by Barberini to Cardinal Richelieu. 1630 Dies in Rome, leaving just over 200 paintings (known of at present), a quarter of which are kept in France, primarily at the Louvre Museum, and some 450 drawings, which are mainly to be found at the Louvre Museum and at Windsor Castle. Having more or less become a recluse, working more to satisfy his need to paint than to please others, his final works reflect internal soul-searching. He also comes back to mythological accounts, but from a different perspective: he wishes to express a truth, evoking the major eternal forces. Juni 1594 in Les Andelys, Normandie; † 19. 1642 En témoigne l’immense littérature qui lui a été consacrée depuis le 17e siècle. In these paintings, nature takes on a new character: it is no longer orderly and subject to the laws of reason but wild, invading the painting where man occupies an increasingly negligible space. Nicolas Poussin, 17th century classical painter, • 1594 : Born near Les Andelys (Normandy, France) 1640 The original family name was Lavallée, a name of French origin. Stricken with illness about 1630, Poussin was nursed back to health by the family of Jacques Dughet, whose daughter, Anne-Marie, he married the same year. He was the child of a noble family who had fallen on hard times. After a period of real poverty, he receives several significant orders, including an altarpiece for Saint-Pierre: The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus, a large-scale work which is not very well received. Towards 1645, the painter begins to take an interest in landscapes, preserving the mathematical order of The Holy Family on the Steps and applying it to nature, with the whole thing being artfully organised thanks to buildings that geographically organise the space. He spent virtually all of his working life in Rome, where he specialized in history paintings—depicting scenes from the Bible, ancient history, and mythology—that are notable for their narrative clarity and dramatic force. • 1640-1642 : Back to Paris under pressure from Louis XIII and Richelieu Choosing subjects which allow him to stage large historic scenes, notably from the Old Testament, he balances his compositions more, i.e. POUSSIN, NICOLAS (1594 – 1665), French painter. The Four Seasons (painted between 1660 and 1664 for the Duke of Richelieu) constitute the synthesis of his late style: in a setting emphasising the beauty of nature, the theme of the succession of the season merges with that of hours, periods of human life; the biblical narrative combines with classical mythology in a synthesis between Christianity and paganism. Deciding to concentrate instead on easel pictures of increasing subtlety and refinement, Poussin devoted much of his art of the late 1620s to romantic mythologies inspired by Titian and his fellow Venetians. He spent his working life in Rome, except for a brief period when he served as First Painter to the King in France. He seeks the concentration of effects rather than their richness by limiting vocabulary as much as possible. Nicolas Poussin, né le 15 juin 1594 et mort le 19 novembre 1665, est un peintre français du XVIIe siècle, représentant de la peinture française classique. • 1642 : Returns to Rome (he does not leave the city again) His family was essentially impoverished nobility: his father, Jean Poussin, was a nobleman who served in the Tavanes regiment under Kings Charles IX, Henry III, and Henry IV. Landscape remains his favoured mode of expression, but his style changes once again. The Landscape with Diana and Orion is an allegory on the origin of clouds. Peintre d'histoire, compositions religieuses, mythologiques, à personnages, paysages animés. The years of 1630-1640 correspond to the first real period of Poussin, immersed in an atmosphere of passionate and erudite archaeological studies, during which he paints Rinaldo and Armida, or The Arcadian Shepherds – Et In Arcadia Ego, which is influenced by the poetry of Titian. Dans la mythologie romaine, Vénus est la déesse de lamour, de la séduction et de la beauté et Mercure le dieu du commerce, des voyages et le messager des autres dieux. Anthony Blunt, Art et Architecture en France, 1500-1700, Editions Macula, 2000, Your email address will not be published. About 1627 Poussin became acquainted with the scholar, antiquarian, and collector Cassiano dal Pozzo, who was destined to become his chief Italian patron and one of his closest friends. Nicolas Poussin - retrouvez toute l'actualité, nos dossiers et nos émissions sur France Culture, le site de la chaîne des savoirs et de la création. Biographie de Nicolas Poussin. Discovers painting when Quentin Varin comes to Les Andelys to complete a series of altarpieces for the church.