Nicolas Poussin Biography

Nicolas Poussin was a famous French painter and draftsman who became a central figure of the Roman and European art in the seventeenth century. He spent his working life in Rome, except for a brief period when he served as First Painter to the King in France. Poussin was a leading pioneer of the classical French Baroque style. His uniqueness lies in the fact that he brought an intellectual strain to the classical art. His specialization was history paintings. His compositions depicted scenes from the Bible, mythology and historical events. They are famous for their narrative precision and dramatic impulse. His initial works followed the Venetian tradition and they were colorful and sensualistic. There was a distinct influence of the poetry of Ovid and Tasso. His later compositions were indebted to the classicism of Raphael as they were subdued and more disciplined. His works reveal a ‘nobility of design’ in preference to color. The themes of his paintings range from bacchic celebrations to lamentation and moral civic virtues. In his last years, Poussin devoted himself to creating landscapes and deep allegorical paintings which focused on the harmony of nature. He inspired twentieth century neoclassical painters like Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.