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Nicolas Poussin

Nicolas Poussin

Nicolas Poussin

Antonio | Eser | Martin | Oronce | Villanueva (June 1594 – 19 November 1665)

French painter and draftsman who founded the French Classical tradition. He spent virtually all of his working life Nicolas in , where he specialized in history —depicting Poussin scenes from the Bible, ancient history, and mythology—that are notable for their narrative clarity and dramatic force. Nicolas Poussin was born in 1594 in Les Andelys in , near Rouen

Les Andelys is a commune in the Eure department in Haute-Normandie in northern . During his years in Paris Poussin saw works by and engravings after (1483-1520) and (1599-1546), artists of the High , who would Nicolas continue to inspire him throughout his career. About 1612 Poussin departed for Poussin Paris, where he studied anatomy, perspective, and architecture and worked with the minor masters Georges Lallemand and Ferdinand Elle. About 1622 Poussin executed six large tempera paintings for the Jesuits and in the following year he received a commission for a in a Notre- Dame chapel.

The Notre-Dame painting, The Death of the Virgin (1623), went missing following the and was known until the 21st century only by a preparatory .

The Death of the Virgin 1623 Oil on canvas, 202 x 137 cm Saint-Pancrace, Sterrebeek Poussin executed a large number of biblical and mythological paintings in the hope of finding buyers. 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.

Many of these works are poetic mythologies on themes of unrequited love, which are pervaded by an air of languor and melancholy. In their emotional intensity these pictures reveal an ardent in the young Poussin that he would soon suppress. Poussin served his apprenticeship in Rome. The fruits of these studies are apparent in his first great masterpiece, The Death of (1627), painted for Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Inspired by comparable compositions on ancient sarcophagi, this is the first heroic deathbed scene in the artist’s career—and in the entire —and it spawned countless later imitations. The Death of Germanicus 1627 Oil on canvas, 148 x 198 cm Institute of Arts, Minneapolis The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus

1628 Oil on canvas, 320 x 186 cm Pinacoteca, Vatican

In 1628 Poussin received his first and only public commission in Rome, for an altarpiece for the newly constructed basilica of Though Poussin was now encountering his first St. Peter's recognition, he continued to experiment, representing The especially in the 1620s and 1630s, with a Martyrdom of Saint variety of stylistic idioms. His knowledge of Erasmus(Vatican City, Venetian painting had already left its mark in ). the luminosity and vibrant coloring of his Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus By 1632 Poussin had been elected a member of the Guild of St. Luke in Rome, a mark of official recognition that provides evidence of his growing reputation. In the early 1630s his art also underwent a fundamental change of direction.

His compositions also became more Frieze-like composition: rigorously ordered, with the figures often Poussin's paintings are often compared arranged in a friezelike manner parallel to ancient sculptures and friezes, which to the picture plane, in the style of an Poussin carefully studied. Just like in ancient relief. those earlier examples, in his later period Poussin tends to group his figures in the foreground of the painting, with the space of the painting carefully defined and realistically receding. Massacre of Innocents 1629 147.00 x 171.00 cm Oil on Canvas Musée Condé de Chantilly, France Massacre of Innocents 1629 147.00 x 171.00 cm Oil on Canvas Musée Condé de Chantilly, France

Poussin's gut-wrenching Massacre of the Innocents was inspired by a story from the found in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2: 16-18). Massacre of Innocents 1629 147.00 x 171.00 cm Oil on Canvas Musée Condé de Chantilly, France

Poussin's Massacre of the Innocents was painted for during Poussin's early years in Rome.

Ironically, this wealthy and influential Italian aristocrat, banker and art collector is perhaps most famous for his patronage of Italian painter , the artist that Poussin most despised. Massacre of Innocents 1629 147.00 x 171.00 cm Oil on Canvas Musée Condé de Chantilly, France

The coarse brutality of the soldier, the desperation of the kneeling mother, the mindless grief of the woman in the background, the fear and pain of the injured infant: this is anything but Classical detachment. In fact, modern artist Francis Bacon was so moved by the central figure's cry of pain, he described it as "probably the best human cry ever painted. " The holy family on the steps

oil on canvas 1648 of Art, Washington, D.C The holy family on the steps By Nicolas Poussin oil on canvas 1648 , Washington, D.C The painting shows the Holy Family with Saints Elizabeth and John the Baptist. The representation of Saint Joseph (at the right) is unusual, for he is depicted more as an architect than a carpenter.

The holy family on the steps By Nicolas Poussin oil on canvas 1648 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C The Holy Family on the Steps is one of Poussin's most famous paintings and considered a masterpiece of his mature style. Placed within an architectural setting recalling ancient Rome, the idealized figures have been arranged in a triangular grouping. The steep perspective and the geometric purity of the forms give this small canvas a feeling of order and quiet timelessness. Poussin's style was appreciated in both Rome and Paris and he had many patrons in each city.

The holy family on the steps By Nicolas Poussin oil on canvas 1648 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C The holy family on the steps By Nicolas Poussin oil on canvas 1648 National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C

The analysis in this painting is, assuredly, not specific to any geometry Blunt had in mind but is certainly a demonstration of what he intended to convey. It is unnecessary to search for a constructional geometry here because the eye provides both the framework and the focus in any event. Of a certainty, it's there, but is it as formal as suggested, and is the setting of the staff and the derivation of the 'platform', both arising from the geometry, purely accidental? perhaps, reading too much into this? Further analysis of other paintings connected with the mystery may reveal some common features and could, perhaps, assist in developing a testable hypothesis vis-a-vis the Saunière cipher and Rennes-Le- Château. The Changing Face of Poussin’s Pentagon The Changing Face of Poussin’s Pentagon

“In one particular respect we can define Poussin's conception of Reason more precisely. It was closely bound up with mathematics, and especially with geometry. For the seventeenth century, mathematics was the supreme achievement of human reason because of the absolute certainty of its demonstrations, and it was also a symbol of clarity and order.” - The Changing Face of Poussin’s Pentagon

So many people have claimed that they alone have solved the enigma of Poussin's Les Bergers d'Arcadie that one is forced to wonder if they can all be looking at the same painting

The work may prove to be an unproductive line of enquiry but some observations from a wider field of study are presented here to encourage further exploration and discussion should the subject of pentagonal 'signature' geometry, as outlined here, be considered of any relevance to the solution of this particular aspect of the Rennes-le-Château mystery. The Changing Face of Poussin’s Pentagon / Les bergers d’arcadie The Arcadian oil on canvas 1639 Musée du , Paris, France The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

The Arcadian Shepherds (also known as Les bergers d'Arcadie or Et in Arcadia Ego) is without a doubt the most famous and most widely discussed of any of Poussin's paintings. The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Arcadia was a real region in Greece: isolated, surrounded by mountains, and sparsely populated by shepherds, already in antiquity the region was romanticized as a kind of terrestrial paradise, a place of unspoiled nature whose inhabitants still lived in the blissful harmony (and ignorance) of the Golden Age. The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Poussin's The Arcadian Shepherds was commissioned in 1638 by Giulio Rospigliosi (the future Pope Clement IX), who had also commissioned Poussin's other great masterpiece, Dance to the Music of Time, a few years earlier. Rospigliosi was a true lover of the artists who was also a well-known opera librettist. The Arcadian Shepherds was acquired by Louis XIV in 1685, and has remained in Paris ever since. The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France Richard Andrews and Paul Schellenberger published a similar theory in their The Tomb of God. This time, the authors claim that the phrase Et in Arcadia Ego is missing a word, and should actually read Et in Arcadia Sum, which is actually an anagram for Arcam Dei Tango Iesu, or "I touch the tomb of God- Jesus. "

The authors even claim to have located the heavenly tomb in Poussin's painting in a tiny French town called Les Pontils. Such theories may be based on logic shakier than the San Andreas Fault line, but have become enormously popular nonetheless. The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

The two pentagonal schemas, Shugborough (left) and Bergers 2 (right) presents the two schemas as they appear from the foregoing analysis The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France The Shugborough Inscription is a sequence of letters – O U O S V A V V, between the letters D M – carved on the 18th-century 's Monument in the grounds of Shugborough Hall in Staffordshire, England, below a mirror image of Nicolas Poussin's painting, the Shepherds of Arcadia. It has never been satisfactorily explained, and has been called one of the world's top uncracked ciphertexts. The Arcadian Shepherds oil on canvas 1639 Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

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