The Master of Colours

Nicolas Poussin, a great artist of the seventeenth century, was born in Normandy in 1594. Although he referred to himself as being from the small Normandy town of Les Andelys, it is thought by some that he actually came from Villers, a nearby village. The scenery of Poussin’s native land is striking in its majestic beauty: the wide bed of the Seine, forced by bare rocky cliffs, makes a smooth turn around stately wooded hills. On top of one of the hills are the mediaeval ruins of the Chateau Gaillard, formidable even today.

The buildings of Les Andelys stretch along a tributary to the Seine, which flows through a wide valley encircled by steep hills. Winding roads lead up to neighbouring villages. Amid such magnificence, it is easy to understand the effect of the impressions of Poussin’s childhood and adolescence on his future work.

The Death of Germanicus, 1627. Oil on canvas, 148 x 198.1 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis.

Undoubtedly, the striking native scenery helped shape his perception of the world. The future artist could not fail to know the wonderful stained-glass panels and reliefs of the town church which had been created by Renaissance masters of the sixteenth century. Though not of the first magnitude, these Renaissance artists gave the young Poussin, through their works, the opportunity to study classic artistic traditions and to develop a feel for plasticity of form and compositional rhythm.

Unfortunately, Poussin’s contemporary biographers did not mention any facts of his youth and artistic formation. It is known, however, that he was noticed by Quentin Varin, a painter who came to Les Andelys to execute altarpieces for the local church. Although the visiting artist might have helped the talented young man with his advice, the typical late Mannerist style of the altarpieces, dated 1612, prevents regarding Varin as Poussin’s teacher.

The Apparition of the Holy Virgin before James the Elder, around 1629–1630. Oil on canvas, 301 x 242 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

That same year Poussin left for Paris where, judging by further developments, no patronage was awaiting him to facilitate the start of his career. A nobleman from Poitou gave the beginning artist shelter. An episode told by Poussin’s Italian biographer, Giovanni Pietro Bellori, sheds light their relationship: when after some time the nobleman took Poussin to his castle in Poitou, his mother kept the young artist busy with “domestic affairs, not leaving him even a moment for his art.” In other words, Poussin was considered a servant.

Some of the featured artworks of Nicolas Poussin:

Summer or Ruth and Boaz, 1660–1664. Oil on canvas, 118 x 160 cm. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

Joshua’s Victory over the Amorites, 1625–1626. Oil on canvas, 97.5 x 134 cm. Pushkin Museum, Moscow.

The Blind Orion in Search of the Rising Sun, 1658. Oil on canvas, 119.1 x 182.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Nicolas Poussin - The Master of Colours - Parkstone International

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