Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665): ‘Peintre Philosophe’ in the age of the Baroque

Excellent online course from the London Art History Society looking in depth at the life and work of Nicolas Poussin.

Over five weeks and ten lectures Giulia Martina Weston led us thought the themes in Poussin’s work, placing him within the context of his time. The 17th century isn’t a period in art I know very well so as well as learning about the artist I also got a good overview of the art market in Italy and France at the time.

I was fascinated by hearing that critics at the time talked about Poussin as the anti-Caravaggio and the New Raphael. I must admit in the Caravaggio v Raphael argument I’m with the former so I felt that explained why I don’t feel drawn to Poussin.

Despite not being a fan of Poussin I feel I will now get a lot more from looking at his work as I now understand his philosophy from his Neo-stoicism, his vision of art as poetry and how he used biblical and mythical texts, his repletion of images like the variations in music and use of the antique.

We also looked at the artists working methods from his use of drawings and wax models in a box like a theatrical set to the construction of his paintings based around the conservation of “The Triumph of David” from Dulwich Picture Gallery.

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