Nicolas Poussin Art History
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Today, I wanted to review some of Nicolas Poussin's paintings about love. The first painting is about the romance between Rinaldo and Armida. Armida was an enemy sorceress. She had been sent by the Saracen to stop the movement of the Crusading Christians. As a assassin witch, Armida had managed put Rinaldo asleep. He was the general of the Crusaders. However, she fell in love with the Rinaldo. In this painting, she is admiring his beauty. Cupid is stopping her dagger from killing Rinaldo.
This next painting shows Echo and Narcissus. Narcissus is in the foreground. He has been watching his reflection for so long that he cannot rise. Behind him, Cupid is taking his torch of fame. Behind Cupid, we can see Echo calling Narcissus' name. She still hopes that one day Narcissus will get over his own self love.
This painting shows Selene with her Lover Endymion. He was a king whom the Titan loved very much. She asked Zeus to grant him eternal beauty. However, she could only see him at night, when he slept. The only time he could see her was in his dreams. Here his dream form is saying goodbye to the Titan. Behind the pair, we see Endymion's sleeping form. Toward the right, one of Selene's attendants is parting the veil of darkness to allow Helios to rise over the earth.
During the 1600s, Tancred became really popular. Some guy wrote a love poem about him called "Jerusalem Delivered" . In that poem, Tancred was given a fictional lover. In this scene, she is cutting her hair to serve as a bind for his wounds. Behind the girl, we see Trancred's armor. One of his soldiers is holding him up. This lovely romantic painting by Nicolas Poussin deserves 5 stars rating.
This next painting is related to the Rinaldo painted. Here the witch Armida is taking Rinaldo to her enchanted garden. In doing so, she complies with both her mission and her desire to make Rinaldo her lover. Aiding her in her quest, we see several cherubs. Toward the right, we see the river god and one of his nymphs.
He was a french baroque artist. He mostly undertook classical and biblical subjects. Most of his painting career was spent in Rome. He died with a relative good amount of wealth. I think that is everything worth mentioning about Poussin. His artwork was far more interesting than his life. As such, I will now rate some paintings about Venus. The first painting shows "Venus and Adonis". It is hosted in Texas, Fort Worth. In the Kimbell Art Museum. For those that do not know, Adonis was a shepherd that Venus liked. Here we see her playing around with her lover. Her chariot can be seen in the background. For decoration, we see some Cupids playing around. The two cupids in the foreground are playing with a dove. It is the symbol of Venus. The entire scenery is pretty cute.
Here is another lovely Venus painting. While Venus slept, some fauns surprised her. You can see them looking at her from behind the bushes. On the meantime, her two Cupids are trying to wake her up. They wish to warn her of the fauns' presence. Beside one of them, we see an empty basin and a platter. This shows that Venus is drunk with ambrosia.
This painting shows "Mars and Venus". This was a very popular classical subject during those days. Like you all know, here we see Venus with her lover, Mars. Her Cupids are disarming him. By the river, we see a nymph and the river god. They are all watching the scene. The elaborate scenery works well a lot.
Here is another painting featuring the sleeping Venus. Here the fauns or Satyrs are a bit more direct. The satyr is removing the sheets to get a better look at her. For a background, we see two lovers eating grapes.
This last painting is a scene from Virgil's Poem: The Aeneid. The scene is a ripoff of the Illiad. Like Thetis, Venus is giving weapons to her son. The goddess looks pretty cool flying around. The Roman armor is also very well made.
Today, I wanted to review some lovely Poussin paintings. They are all based on classical themes. Here we see the inspiration of a poet. The poet is the boy kneeling before Bacchus. The wine shows that poets get inspired when they drink. Above him, we see some Cupids with a laurel crown. This means that fame also inspires a poet. The girl shows that poets also get inspired by beautiful women.
Here is another version of the inspiration of a poet. The poet is the boy writing. He is getting inspired by the laurels of fame. Apollo is also aiding the poet write his poems. Beside Apollo, we see the goddess of history. A boy cherubs is holding up her history book symbol. All this symbols together show that a poet should be inspired by fame, history and religion.
Pyrrhus was a powerful Greek king. When he was two years old, his father got dethroned. This scene shows how his family is trying to escape with the young prince. The entire scene is quite chaotic. The central figures are dressed in brighter colors. For a background, we see the fallen city.
For those that do not know, Theseus was the mythical founder of Athens. He had a pretty elaborate myth. In this scene, his mother told him where his father hid his sword. The sword was important because it was his birthright. With it, he could lay claim to his throne. The ruined Greek background works pretty well. It was actually based on Greek ruins.
This next painting shows a tragic scene from Roman history. During the old days, the Roman Republic had a shortage of woman. To take care of this problem, they invited the Sabines to an Olympics event. At a symbol from Romulus, his soldiers kidnapped the young women as their wives. This painting chronicles this necessary evil of the Romans. All over the place, you can see the chaos this unexpected event created. On the foreground, we see the main figures. To the right, an old man is trying to protect his daughter. The Roman soldier is about to strike him down with his sword. Beside that group, an old woman is begging Romulus for mercy. Between her, we see two babies whose mothers where taken.
This painting is pretty depressing. For those that do not know, Arcadia was a paradise outside of Greece. It was the place were city dwellers lived the life of shepherds. Many who were tired of the city life went to live there. One day, these mythological hippies found a graveyard. Its epitaph said "Et in Arcadia Ego". This meant that even in Arcadia death existed. This depressing epitaph gave those loafers much to think about. Beside the boy in red, we see History. She comforts them with the thought that death can be beaten via history. Those who go down in history never die.
Here we see the self portrait of Nicolas Poussin. He illustrated himself among his paintings. The one that is visible shows the face of history. Here Poussin shows that he wants to go down in history. The lines created by the borders of the painting alludes to his style of painting. Poussin always prioritized diagonals over color. I think that is everything worth mentioning about this painting.
This last painting shows "The Nurture of Jupiter". When Jupiter was saved from Chronos he was raised by a different chick. That lady had no breast milk. So Jupiter was fed goat milk as a child. Here we see him having his daily mean.
This post features some landscape paintings by Nicolas Poussin. This painting shows Saint Jerome meditating. This saint was a hermit. As such, he liked to go to nature to think a bit. As such, Poussin fused his landscape painting with a biblical theme. The dark forest landscape works pretty well.
Above, we have what Poussin calls an "Ideal Landscape". It has everything from forests, a town, a lake and some mountains to boot. The figure that sticks out the most is the guy in blue and red. He is talking to some shepherds.
This depressing painting is an adaptation of the Pyramus and Thisbe mythology. Here, the poor Thisbe has discovered Pymarus' drowned body. For the background, we have a stormy landscape. The town in the background works came out looking pretty cool.
This painting is another mythological landscape. In the foreground, we see Orpheus with his harp. He is playing a song to his darling Euridice. For a background, we see a citadel bursting into flames. It is lovely the contrast between the outdoors and the hectic city life. It is pretty obvious that Orpheus' world is preferable.
This painting is about the flood. On the foreground, the infidels are drowning. They are trying to reach a higher ground. In the background, we can see Noah's Arc. The lightning bolt across the sky works pretty well.
This landscape is pretty odd. Here we see the giant Orion being led by Diana. Orion was Diana's first lover. He was a giant hunter she liked. Over the clouds, we see Aurora. She too was in loved with Orion. On the ground, we see other random people. Overall, the landscape came out looking really pretty.
This painting is another historical landscape. It shows the Jewish spies carrying the grapes back to the Israelite. For a background, we see the kingdom of Canaan. The women are in the middle of harvesting fruits and other food for the city.
Today, I wanted to review some godly paintings by Nicolas Poussin. As such, here we have the first painting. The guy in the throne is the sun Titan Helios. In the foreground, we have fall and winter. The girls near Helios are Spring and Summer. The winged old guy is Saturn. The man kneeling down is Phaeton. He was the idiot son of Helios. Here he is asking his father to lend him his Sun carriage. He wanted to show his friends that he was the son of Helios. Needless to say, this story did not have a happy ending.
This painting shows the world of Flora. All around her, we see men and women looking at flowers. Sitting in the throne, we see the blondy Flora. She is speaking with one of her cherished nymphs. Overall, the scenery is rather cute. There are some odd weirdos like a guy falling on his sword.
Here we see a detail of the "The Triumph of Neptune". These figures represent two water nymphs and a river god. The basin stands for how all rivers wind up in the sea. I think that is everything worth mentioning about this side of the painting.
Above, we have another grand Greek Painting. In the background, we see Apollo talking with all of the Muses. Over them, cherubs and other cute kids are glorifying them. In the foreground, poets and philosophers are talking about this event. Each of the Muses has their own symbol. The idealized background scenery came out pretty well.
Above, we see four people dancing to the music of time. Each maiden represents a different state of our life. The statue on the left shows a young and an old man. On the ground, we see two children. One is playing a flute. The other has Time's hourglass. Over the sky, we see Helious. Even, the Gods are participating in the dance of time. No one can escape his music.
Syrinx was a nymph of Artemis. As such, she was always supposed to be chaste. One day, Pan started chasing after her. She asked aid from the River god. Answering her prayer, he turned her into hollow reeds. This is the moment when the River god intercepts Syrinx.
This next Poussin rating focuses on his Virgin Mary paintings. The first painting shows the Virgin dying. All among around, we see the apostle crying for the death of Jesus' mother. The guy in red is St. Peter. He was the first Pope. Hovering over them, we see some cherubs. They are about to take the Virgin to heaven.
This painting shows the holy family. They are resting on the steps. Beside the family, we see John the Baptist and his mother. Together, they make up this holy family. What is depressing is how Joseph is faded into the shadows. The main focus are the women and their children.
In this painting, we see the holy family begging. In their early days at Egypt, they had to begged for food. What is interesting is that they are being fed by a rich woman and her servants. Often a times, it was women who where more charitable.
Above, we see an "Annunciation". The Virgin Mary is receiving into herself the Holy Spirit. Via this spirit, she is becoming the mother of Christ. Another thing worth noting are the wings of the angel. They have the colors of a parrot wing.
This next painting shows "The Adoration of the Shepherds". They all came to look at the cute baby Jesus. The Virgin Mary is raising Jesus up for the shepherds to see him better. For a background, we see more shepherds arriving.
Like the title states, here we see the holy families with angels. In the foreground, we see the Virgin Mary with Baby Jesus and St. John the Baptist. In the background, we see Joseph reading the Bible. In this painting, he literary plays a background character.
Today, I wanted to review some of Nicolas Poussin's Old Testament Paintings. The first painting shows Moses Parting the Red Sea. This is the moment after Moses calls the seas back. You can see some people begging Moses for a Miracle.
This painting shows "The Adoration of the Golden Calf". The second Moses turned his back on his people they went back to their pagan ways. In the foreground, we see the golden calf. The guy in white pointing to the sky is the high priest. The other people to the left are also adoring the golden calf. Interesting enough, the children are avoiding looking at the pagan God. Behind the calf, we see Moses arriving. His brother Aaron is warning about what he is about to see. This is a pretty depressing part of Exodus.
In this painting, we see the Miracle of "The Gathering of Manna". It was when Moses made food appear out of nowhere. On the left side of the painting, we see people who are still starving. There, a Mother is giving her milk to her own mother, who is starving. She is also consoling her child who is complaining about her piety. Beside her, we see a boy telling his father about the miracle. In the center of the image, we see Moses and his brother Aaron.
This is a detail of the Solomon painting. Here we see the evil mother with her dead child. She is telling Solomon to split the other woman's baby in half. Behind her, we see other witnesses. They are averting their gaze from the gruesome sight of cutting a baby in half. Behind them, we see Solomon's advisers.
In this part of the painting, we see the mother begging Solomon to spare her baby. She would rather have her baby go to the other mother, than have him die. Behind her, we see the soldier releasing his sword. He was about to fulfill Solomon's deadly command. Behind him, we see that even some of the soldiers are averting their gazes. We also see an old man watching this scene in horror.
In this painting, we see the princess discovering Solomon. What is odd about this princess is that she looks more like a Greek chick. The scenery too is taken from Greece. I suppose it cannot be helped.
In this painting, we see David. He is glaring at the head of Goliath. In a corner, we see the alms of his kings. Behind him, an angel girl is crowning him. A little cherubs is also giving the angel girl the crown of kings. For now, David can enjoy this victory. In the future, he will become a king. What is cool is how, the sword he holds is too big for him. He did use Goliath's sword to decapitate him.
Here, we see another battle from the Bible. In the background, we see Moses raising his hands to the heavens. Whenever he lowered them, his troops would start loosing. To keep his hands raised, he had two guys hold him up.
These paintings too are from the Bible. Above, we see the "Massacre of the Innocents". When Herod failed to kill Jesus the first time, he made a public event for mothers and their male children. At his signal, his soldiers slaughter all of them. Mary barely escape that event. In the floor, we see all the dead children. One of the mothers is crying at the sight of her dead baby .
In this painting, we see the destruction of the temple. After many riots, the Romans were fed up with the Jews and their messiah related riots. To make a point, they destroyed their temple. All over the ground, we see the Romans butchering the priests. In the background, we see the relics of the temple. The Candelabrum shows that the Romans destroyed the arc of the covenant. You see, that Candelabrum was inside it. Therefore, it had lost all its divine problems.
In this painting, St. Paul is getting raised up to the heavens by Angels. Whenever, a saint has such a close encounter with angels, it is called "Ecstasy". As such, we have the title of this painting. In the floor, he left behind his sword and his hatred toward the Christians.
This painting is pretty simple. In the center, we see Jesus curing the blind. He has his hands over the eyes of the first blind person. All around him, we see witnesses to his miracle. The scenery goes well with the time period. It really does have a Roman look.
In this painting, we see one of those infamous Martyrdom. The saint is getting his intestines ripped out of his body. You can see his hands clenched in pain. However, he has his gaze focused on the heavens. You can see little cherubs flying above. The priest beside him wants the Saint to adore the statue of Hercules. However, the saint is not budging.
In this painting, we see John baptizing people. Men and women from all ages are seeking redemption. Behind the saint, the pharisees are critiquing the Saint. They represented the status norm of the time.
This is another version of "The Massacre of the Innocents". This one focuses only on three figures. It shows a closeup of a soldier about to kill a baby. His mother is begging the soldier not to do it. However, he is pulling her away by grabbing her hair. This is a pretty depressing painting. This event drew a parallel with Jesus' life and the life of Moses. Remember when the Pharaoh killed all the male children of the slaves? In any case, this last painting by Poussin deserves 5 stars rating. I hope that you liked these Nicolas Poussin paintings reviews.
