POUSSIN, Nicolas, French painter: b. Les Andelys, Normandy, 15 June 1593; d. Rome, 19 Nov. 1665. He studied first in his native place, and then at Paris. He had already acquired considerable reputation when, in 1624, he went to Italy, where at Rome, Marini, the poet, in spired him with a taste for the Italian poets, in whose works Poussin found many subjects for his art. After the death of Marini (1625), though left without patronage, he continued the study of geometry, perspective, architecture, anatomy, as well as the practice of his art. His conversation, his walks, his readings were also almost always connected with it. He copied antiques, modeled statues and reliefs, diligently painted from nature; and all his works show the results of this study. At last he was at tacked by an illness brought on by his labors. He was, however, taken care of by a French man, Jacques Dughet, the father of Gaspar Poussin (q.v.). In 1630 Poussin married the daughter of his benefactor. About this time his affairs began to improve. He found patrons in Cardinal Barberini and the Cavaliere Cas siano del Pozzo, for whom he painted the cele brated 'Seven Sacraments.> These works like wise gained him celebrity in France; and Car& nal Richelieu invited him to Paris to' paint the great gallery of the Louvre. Louis XIII ap pointed him his first painter, with a pension of 3,000 livres. Poussin arrived in Paris in 1640, and executed numerous works, particularly his torical pieces from the Old Testament, but was much harassed by his enemies. The painter Jacques Fouquieres had been employed to decorate the gallery and the architect Mercier had overloaded it with ornament. Poussin found himself under the necessity of removing their labors. He also had to contend with the whole school of Simon Vonet. Harassed on every side he determined to leave Paris. In September 1642 while employed on cartoons of the 'Labors of Hercules' for the gallery of the Louvre, he returned to Rome (ostensibly for the purpose of bringing his wife to France) and never again quitted that city. The second period of his life in Rome was even more pro ductive than the first. Many of his works were the result of orders that came to him from admirers in Paris, especially from de Chantelou, an influential courtier, for whom he painted, between 1644 and 1648, a second series, ;The Seven Sacraments.> As a painter his
is remarkably correct; his composition dignified and ndbfe; his invention rich; his style grand and heroic. His expression approaches that of Raphael, and he has been called the Raphael of France. He has been censured for a too studied arrangement and a too great propensity to episodes; too much uniformity in the atti tudes, air and expression of his figures; an excessive fulness in the drapery and too small proportions in his figures — faults which may have been owing to his close imitation of the ancients. But notwithstanding these faults Poussin may be compared with the greatest Italian masters. Among his most celebrated works are (Seven Sacraments) ; (Deluge); 'Death of Germanicus' • 'Capture of Jerusa lem) ; 'Plague of the Philistines' ; ; (The ; (The Infant Moses' - (Moses bringing Water from the Rock) ; (The Worship of the Golden Calf); 'John Baptizing in the Wilderness,) etc., and many fine landscapes. The largest collection of Poussin's works is to be found in Paris, the Louvre alone containing 39. London, too, holds many of his paintings, and practically every one of the more important European galleries owns specimens of his work. Only comparatively few, however, have remained in Rome. Three of his pictures may be seen in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Bibliography.— Advielle, Victor, ( Re cherches stir Nicolas (Paris 1902); Andresen, A., der Kupferstiche nach Nicolas Poussin' (Leipzig 1863) Boo chine, H., (Le Poussin, sa Vie et son Ituvre) (Paris 1858) ; Callcott, Lady Maria, 'Memoirs of the Life of Nicolas Poussin' (London 1820) ; Denio, E. H., Poussin, his Life and Work' (London 1899) . • Friedlaender, W., "Nicolas Poussin' (Munchen 1914) ; Gandar, E., Andelys et Nicolas Poussin> (Paris 1860) ; Gault de St. Germain, de Nicolas Poussin> (Paris 1806) ; Landon, C. P., ((Vie et Euvre complete de Nicolas Poussin" (in et tEuvres des peintres les plus celebres de toutes les Vols. IV-VII, Paris 1803 20) ; Magni., Emile, (Nicolas Poussin, premier peintre du roi, 1594-1665' (Bruxelles 1914) ; (Correspondance de Nicolas Poussin> (Paris 1911) ; completes de Nicolas Poussin' (Paris 1841).