The founder of the Classicist school of French painting, which has
had official approval and support from his time to the present day,
was Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). Born at Les Andelys in Normandy, he
went to Paris at the age of eighteen, and became so fascinated by the
examples of antique sculpture that, in spite of his extreme poverty,
he determined to continue his studies in Rome. It is unnecessary here
to relate the struggles that preceded his arrival at Rome in 1624.
He frequented the school of Domenichino; but what was more decisive
for the formation of his style was his unceasing study of antique
sculpture, in which he was guided and encouraged by his friend, the
sculptor Duquesnoy. After some years of continued poverty, he found
at last liberal patronage, and rose to such fame that on his return
to Paris in 1640 he was appointed Painter-in-Ordinary to the King.
However, the duties and restrictions attached to this position proved
so irksome to Poussin, that after two years he returned to Rome, where
he spent the rest of his life.
At the Louvre is to be found an imposing array of forty canvases by
Poussin, whose art is as typical an expression of French genius as
the poetry of Corneille. It is essentially intellectual, based on
theoretical rules of design and composition, not in the least sensuous
or emotional, but always coldly classical. The vast majority of his
paintings at the Louvre are in such a deplorable state of deterioration
and neglect that it is almost impossible to form an adequate idea
of their original colour, but even the most ardent admirers of the
master do not maintain that he was a great colourist. His pictures are
entirely dependent on beauty of form and rhythmic design. They might
almost be described as painted reliefs. This applies at least to his
treatment of the human figure. His conception of landscape, though
still severely classical, is more pictorial and testifies to a genuine
love of Nature—Nature idealised by a lofty imagination. To appreciate
his greatness as a landscape painter, one has only to examine the
glorious setting to his _Orpheus and Eurydice_ (No. 740). The figures
here are really of quite subordinate importance—mere incidents in a
landscape painted with consummate mastery, perfect in linear and aerial
perspective.
_The Shepherds in Arcadia_ (No. 734, Plate XXXVII.) may be quoted to
illustrate the calculated rhythm of his design and his indebtedness
to classic art from which he derived his nobility of form. Real
dramatic action was beyond Poussin’s range. His famous _Rape of the
Sabine Women_ (No. 724) is a striking instance of his failure to
grasp the significant difference between dramatic movement and mere
heroic posturing. Far more inspired, and therefore more natural and
dramatically effective, is the superb circular painting for a ceiling
commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu and representing _Time rescuing
Truth from the Attacks of Envy and Discord_ (No. 735). The allegory is
said to have been intended as an allusion to the circumstances which
induced Poussin to leave Paris for good. The design has more real
vitality than is generally to be found in Poussin’s work; the action of
the figures is more natural; and the colour music is not drowned by the
prevalence of dingy browns. The decorative effect heralds in a strange
way the art of the next century, and particularly that of Boucher.
To see Poussin in the right perspective as regards the world’s great
masters, one need only compare his two _Bacchanals_ (Nos. 729 and
730) with Titian’s rendering of a similar theme. The comparison is
disastrous for the eclectic Frenchman. A _Portrait of the Painter_ (No.
743) from Poussin’s own brush is to be found in Room XIV., where no
fewer than thirty-seven of his pictures are on view.
[Illustration:
PLATE XXXVII.—NICOLAS POUSSIN
(1594-1665)