POUSSI Nicola (Poussin Nicolas)

(1594-1665)
Born in 1594 in Les Andelys in Normandy. Poussin's first teacher was Quentin Warren of Amiens, who in 1611-1612 lived in Les Andelys. In 1612, Poussin went to Paris, where Alexander Couto, valet to the king, gave the young artist the opportunity to attend the royal collection of paintings, where he first saw the works of Raphael and his school masters. In Paris, Poussin became acquainted with the poet Giovanni Battista Marino, for whom subsequently completed an excellent series of drawings of scenes from Ovid, Virgil and Livy, is stored in Windsor Castle.
In the spring of 1624 the artist arrived in Rome and settled there for the rest of life. In 1640, when the glory of Poussin's finally reached his homeland, he received the invitation of Louis XIII and was forced for a time to return to Paris. In Paris, Poussin created such works as the Eucharist, Miracle of St.. Francis Xavier (both in the Louvre) and time to save the truth from the encroachments of Envy and Strife (Lily, Museum of Fine Arts). The latter was written by order of Cardinal Richelieu and was intended to decorate the ceiling. We know that life in the royal court pressed Poussin, and in 1642 he returned to Rome.

The main sources of Poussin's paintings are works of classical antiquity and Italian Renaissance. Numerous pictures show his great interest in the monuments of Ancient Rome. He owns numerous sketches of antique reliefs, statues and sarcophagi. However, classical motifs, so many in the works of Poussin, almost always changed and reworked them in accordance with his own artistic goals. Of the works by masters of the Italian Renaissance, the strongest impact on the artist had a painting by Raphael and Titian. In the later work of Apollo and Daphne (ca. 1664) and a series of four paintings seasons (1660-1664, all in the Louvre) Poussin refers to a lyrical explanation, these works are rich in composition and thinner on the technique of execution, rather than a purely romantic paintings of the early period. Series seasons with the biblical scenes of Paradise (Spring), Ruth (Summer), Exodus (Autumn) and Flood (Winter) is one of the best landscapes Poussin.

Scenes for his paintings Poussin drew mainly from ancient Roman history and the Christian tradition. His main sources of ancient mythology and history are the Metamorphoses of Ovid, a collection of the remarkable deeds and sayings Valeria Maxima and the book Images of gods Kartar. A deep understanding of the content of the spiritual culture of classical Rome reflected not so much in the nature of realist painting by Poussin, as in the manner by which the artist embodied moral ideals. In the painting dance to the music of Time (1634-1636, London, Wallace Collection), the dance seems inspired, and a group of dancers - a kind of embodiment of the fullness of life - is positioned between the allegories of childhood and old age.

In painting, 17. Poussin was the greatest and most consistent representative of classicism.