POUSSIN, NICOLAS (1594-1665), French painter, was born at Les Andelys (Eure) in June 1594. He learned painting under Quentin Varin, a local painter, till he went to Paris, where he entered the studio of Ferdinand Elle, a Fleming, and then of the Lorrainer L'Allemand. He improved himself by studying prints after Raphael and Giulio Romano; and in 1624 he pro ceeded to Rome, where he stayed for six years, and married Anna Maria Dughet, a Frenchwoman. His intimacy with Du Quesnoy, afterwards celebrated under the name of Il Fiammingo, may have led Poussin to the careful study of antique reliefs, many of which he modelled. He also attended the academy of Domenichino, whom he considered the first master in Rome. Among his first patrons were Cardinal Barberini, for whom was painted the "Death of Germanicus" (Barberini palace) ; Cardinal Omodei, for whom he produced in 163o, the "Triumphs of Flora" (Louvre) ; Cardinal de Richelieu, who commissioned a Bacchanal (Louvre) ; Vicenzo Giustiniani, for whom was executed the "Massacre of the Innocents," now in the museum at Chantilly; Cassiano dal Pozzo, who became the owner of the first series of the "Seven Sacraments" (Belvoir castle) ; and Fieart de Chante loup, with whom in 1640 Poussin, at the call of Sublet de Noyers, returned to France. Louis XIII. conferred on him the title of "first painter in ordinary," and in two years at Paris he produced several pictures for the royal chapels (the "Last Supper," painted for Versailles, now in the Louvre) and eight cartoons for the Gobelins, the series of the "Labours of Hercules" for the Louvre, the "Triumph of Truth" for Cardinal Richelieu (Louvre), and much minor work. In 1643, disgusted by the intrigues of Simon Vouet, Feuquieres and the architect Lemercier, Poussin with drew to Rome. There, in 1648, he finished for De Chanteloup the second series of the "Seven Sacraments" (Bridgewater gal lery), and also his noble landscape with Diogenes throwing away his Scoop (Louvre) ; in 1649 he painted the "Vision of St. Paul" (Louvre) for the comic poet Scarron, and in 165r the "Holy Family" (Louvre) for the duke of Crequi.
The finest collection of Poussin's paintings, as well as of his drawings, is possessed by the Louvre ; but, besides the pictures in the National Gallery and at Dulwich, England possesses several of his most considerable works. The "Triumph of Pan" is at Basildon (Berkshire). Other important works are in the collec tion of Sir Herbert Cook, Richmond ; the duke of Bedford, the earl of Carlisle, the earl of Yarborough, the duke of Devonshire, Burdett Coutts and at Longford castle. The Prado, Madrid, the Dresden museum, the Eremitage at Leningrad, possess a number of representative pieces by this prolific master. The prints that have been engraved after his principal pictures amount to upwards of 200.
Nicolas Poussin was an eclectic, selecting and combining what kg admired in the classic art of the past. He not only emulated Titian's glowing colour and the rhythm of Raphael's design ; he also borrowed figures out of pictures by these masters (from Titian's "Bacchanal" and Raphael's "Stanze" for instance) and introduced them into his canvases. Yet he was no mere copyist. His conceptions are essentially French, and his characters might be staged in one of Corneille's dramas. His art is reasoned and intellectual. The Greek law of unity in space and time is realized. His statuesque figures are ranged parallel to the picture plane as in antique reliefs. The landscape background is similarly arranged ; and he applied the principles of figure composition to his land scapes. His influence on French painting was great and lasting. It was felt in the work of successive generations—of David, Ingres, Delacroix, Chasseriau, Puvis de Chavannes and Corot, down to modern times. He stands for the classical tradition, for the balance and harmony in things, for the rhythmic movement of line, for decorative arrangement in composition after which mod ern artists since Cezanne have been striving, in reaction to impres sionism. Poussin's immediate follower was Gaspard Dughet, his brother-in-law and pupil, who through this double bond of relationship shared the name of Poussin.