Editing Nicolas Poussin (section)

==Biography==
=== Early years – Les Andelys and Paris ===
Nicolas Poussin's early biographer was his friend [[Giovanni Pietro Bellori]],<ref>His ''Lives of the Painters'' was published in Rome, 1672.</ref> who relates that Poussin was born near [[Les Andelys]] in [[Normandy]] and that he received an education that included some Latin, which would stand him in good stead. Another early friend and biographer, [[André Félibien]], reported that "He was busy without cease filling his sketchbooks with an infinite number of different figures which only his imagination could produce."<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 14">{{harvnb|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=14}}</ref> His early sketches attracted the notice of [[Quentin Varin]], who passed some time in Andelys, but there is no mention by his biographers that he had a formal training in Varin's studio, though his later works showed the influence of Varin, particularly by their storytelling, accuracy of facial expression, finely painted drapery and rich colors.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=15}} His parents apparently opposed a painting career for him, and In or around 1612, at the age of eighteen, he ran away to Paris.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 14"/>

He arrived in Paris during the regency of [[Marie de' Medici]], when art was flourishing as a result of the royal commissions given by Marie de' Medici for the decoration of her [[Luxembourg Palace|palace]], and by the rise of wealthy Paris merchants who bought art. There was also a substantial market for paintings in the redecoration of churches outside Paris destroyed during the [[French Wars of Religion]], which had recently ended, and for the numerous convents in Paris and other cities. However, Poussin was not a member of the powerful guild of master painters and sculptors, which had a monopoly on most art commissions and brought lawsuits against outsiders like Poussin who tried to break into the profession.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 16">{{harvnb|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=16}}</ref>

His early sketches gained him a place in the studios of established painters. He worked for three months in the studio of the [[Flanders|Flemish]] painter [[Ferdinand Elle]], who painted almost exclusively portraits, a genre that was of little interest to Poussin.<ref name="Keazor_12">{{harvnb|Keazor|2007|p=12}}</ref> Afterward, he is thought to have studied for one month in the studio of [[Georges Lallemand]], but Lallemand's inattention to precise drawing and the articulation of his figures apparently displeased Poussin.<ref name="Keazor_12"/> Moreover, Poussin did not fit well into the studio system, in which several painters worked on the same painting. Thereafter he preferred to work very slowly and alone.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 16"/> Little is known of his life in Paris at this time. Court records show that he ran up considerable debts, which he was unable to pay. He studied anatomy and perspective, but the most important event of his first residence in Paris was his discovery of the royal art collections, thanks to his friendship with Alexandre Courtois, the ''valet de chambre'' of Marie de' Medici. There he saw for the first time engravings of the works of [[Giulio Romano (painter)|Giulio Romano]] and especially of [[Raphael]], whose work had an enormous influence on his future style.{{sfn|Thompson|1992|p=7}}

He first tried to travel to Rome in 1617 or 1618, but made it only as far as [[Florence]], where, as his biographer Bellori reported, "as a result of some sort of accident, he returned to France."{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=17}}{{sfn|Wright|1985|p=250}} On his return, he began making paintings for Paris churches and convents. In 1622 made another attempt to go to Rome, but went only as far as [[Lyon]] before returning. In the summer of the same year, he received his first important commission: the Order of [[Jesuits]] requested a series of six large paintings to honor the canonization of their founder, Saint [[Francis Xavier]]. The originality and energy of these paintings (since lost) brought him a series of important commissions.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=18}}

[[Giambattista Marino]], the court poet to Marie de' Medici, employed him to make a series of fifteen drawings, eleven illustrating [[Metamorphoses (poem)|Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'']]<ref name="Brigstocke">{{harvnb|Brigstocke}}</ref> and four illustrating battle scenes from Roman history. The "Marino drawings", now at [[Windsor Castle]], are among the earliest identifiable works of Poussin.{{sfn|Chilvers|2009|p=496}} Marino's influence led to a commission for some decoration of Marie de' Medici's residence, the [[Luxembourg Palace]], then a commission from the first Archbishop of Paris, [[Jean-François de Gondi]], for a painting of the death of the Virgin (since lost) for the Archbishop's family chapel at the Cathedral of [[Notre-Dame de Paris]]. Marino took him into his household, and, when he returned to Rome in 1623, invited Poussin to join him. Poussin remained in Paris to finish his earlier commissions, then arrived to Rome in the spring of 1624.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=20–22}}

=== First residence in Rome (1624–1640) ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Nicolas Poussin - La Mort de Germanicus.jpg|''Death of Germanicus'', 1628, [[Minneapolis Institute of Art]]
File:'Venus_and_Adonis',_oil_on_canvas_painting_by_Nicolas_Poussin,_c._1628-29,_Kimbell_Art_Museum.jpg|''Venus and Adonis'', {{Circa|1628}}–1629, [[Kimbell Art Museum]]
File:Nicolas Poussin - L'Inspiration du poète (1629).jpg|''[[The Inspiration of the Poet]]'', 1629–30, [[Louvre]]
File:Nicolas Poussin - Le Martyre de Saint Érasme.jpg|''The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus'' 1630, [[Vatican Museums]]
</gallery>
Poussin was thirty when he arrived in Rome in 1624. The new Pope, [[Urban VIII]], elected in 1623, was determined to maintain the position of Rome as the artistic capital of Europe, and artists from around the world gathered there. Poussin could visit the churches and convents to study the works of [[Raphael]] and other Renaissance painters, as well as the more recent works of [[Carracci]], [[Guido Reni]] and [[Caravaggio]] (whose work Poussin detested, saying that Caravaggio was born to destroy painting).<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 22">{{harvnb|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=22}}</ref> He studied the art of painting nudes at the Academy of [[Domenichino]], and frequented the [[Accademia di San Luca]], which brought together the leading painters in Rome, and whose head in 1624 was another French painter, [[Simon Vouet]], who offered lodging to Poussin.<ref>In a census of 1624 (Friedlaender)</ref>

Poussin became acquainted with other artists in Rome and tended to befriend those with classicizing artistic leanings: the French sculptor [[François Duquesnoy]] whom he lodged with in 1626 in via dei Maroniti;<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Sparti|first=Donatella Livia|title=La Maison de Nicolas Poussin via del Babuino a Rome in Actes di Colloque|year=1996|pages=47–69}}</ref> the French artist [[Jacques Stella]]; [[Claude Lorraine]]; Domenichino; [[Andrea Sacchi]]; and joined an informal academy of artists and patrons opposed to the current [[Baroque]] style that formed around [[Joachim von Sandrart]].<ref>[http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=721350&partId=1 The British Museum: Collection online]</ref> Rome also offered Poussin a flourishing art market and an introduction to an important number of art patrons. Through Marino, he was introduced to Cardinal [[Francesco Barberini (seniore)|Francesco Barberini]], the brother of the new Pope, and to [[Cassiano dal Pozzo]], the Cardinal's secretary and a passionate scholar of ancient Rome and Greece, who both later became his important patrons. The new art collectors demanded a different format of paintings; instead of large altarpieces and decoration for palaces, they wanted smaller-size religious paintings for private devotion or picturesque landscapes, mythological and history paintings.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 22"/>

The early years of Poussin in Rome were difficult. His patron Marino departed Rome for Naples in May 1624, shortly after Poussin arrived, and died there in 1625. His other major sponsor, Cardinal Francesco Barberini, was named a papal legate to Spain and also departed soon afterwards, taking Cassiano dal Pozzo with him. Poussin became ill with [[syphilis]], but refused to go to the hospital, where the care was extremely poor, and he was unable to paint for months. He survived by selling the paintings he had for a few [[Roman scudo|scudi]]. Thanks to the assistance of a chef, Jacques Dughet, whose family took him in and cared for him, he largely recovered by 1629, and on 1 September 1630 he married Anne-Marie Dughet, the daughter of Dughet.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini, p. 22"/><ref name=":0" /> His two brothers-in-law were artists, and [[Gaspard Dughet]] later took Poussin's surname.{{sfn|Blunt|1958|p=55}}

Cardinal Barberini and Cassiano dal Pozzo returned to Rome in 1626, and by their patronage Poussin received two major commissions. In 1627, Poussin painted ''[[The Death of Germanicus]]'' ([[Minneapolis Institute of Arts]]) for Cardinal Barberini. The painting's erudite use of ancient textual and visual sources (the ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Histories]]'' of [[Tacitus]] and the Meleager sarcophagus), stoic restraint and pictorial clarity established Poussin's reputation as a major artist.<ref>The Meleager sarcophagus seen by Poussin is that now in the [[Capitoline Museums]].</ref>{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=28–29}} In 1628, he was living on the via Paolino (Babuino) with [[Jean Lemaire (painter)|Jean le Maire]].<ref name=":0" />

The success of the Germanicus led to an even more prestigious commission in 1628 for an altarpiece depicting the ''Martyrdom of St. Erasmus'', for the Erasmus Chapel in [[St. Peter's Basilica]] (now in the [[Vatican Museums|Vatican Pinacoteca]]). The [[Fabricca di San Pietro]] had originally awarded the commission to [[Pietro da Cortona]], who had produced only preliminary designs for the altarpiece when he was unexpectedly transferred to another project. Thanks to Cassiano dal Pozzo's influence, Poussin was chosen to paint the Saint Erasmus altarpiece, following Pietro da Cortona's original design.

With its plunging diagonal composition and high narrative drama, the ''Martyrdom of St. Erasmus'' is Poussin's most overtly "baroque" work.{{sfn|Blunt|1958|pp=55, 85–88}} Despite its adherence to the pictorial idiom of the day, for unknown reasons, the ''Martyrdom of St. Erasmus'' seems to have met with official displeasure and generated no further papal commissions.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Blunt|first=Anthony|title=Nicolas Poussin|publisher=Pantheon|year=1967|volume=1|location=New York|pages=85–99}}</ref> This disappointment, and the loss of a competition for a fresco cycle in [[San Luigi dei Francesi]], convinced Poussin abandon the pursuit of large-scale, public commissions and the burdensome competitions, content restrictions, and political machinations they entailed. Instead, Poussin would re-orient his art towards private collectors, for whom he could work more slowly, with increasing control over subject matter and style.

Along with Cardinal Barberini and Cassiano dal Pozzo, for whom he painted the first ''Seven Sacraments'' series, Poussin's early private patrons included the Chanoine Gian Maria Roscioli, who bought ''The Young Pyrrhus Saved'' and several other important works; Cardinal [[Pope Clement IX|Giulio Rospigliosi]], for whom he painted the second version of ''The Shepherds of Arcadia''; and Cardinal [[Innocent X|Luigi Omodei]], who received the ''Triumphs of Flora'' ({{circa|1630}}–32, [[Louvre]]). He painted the ''Massacre of the Innocents'' for the banker [[Vincenzo Giustiniani]]; the jewel thief and art swindler, Fabrizio Valguarnera, bought ''[[Plague of Ashdod (Poussin)|Plague of Ashdod]]'' and commissioned ''The Empire of Flora''. He also received his first French commissions from [[François de Créquy]], the French envoy to Italy, later, from [[Cardinal Richelieu]] for a series of ''Bacchanales''.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini p. 30" />

Buoyed by this commercial success, Poussin bought a life interest in a small house on Via Paolina (Babuino) for his wife and himself in 1632 and entered his most productive period.<ref name="Rosenberg and Temperini p. 30">{{harvnb|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=30}}</ref> His house was at the foot of Trinité des Monts, near the city gate, where other foreigners and artists lived; its exact location is not known but it was opposite the church of [[Sant'Atanasio]] dei Greci.<ref name=":0" />

=== Return to France (1641–42) ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Poussin Miracle de saint François Xavier Louvre.jpg|''The Miracle of Saint Francis Xavier'', 1641, Louvre
File:Nicolas Poussin - Le Temps soustrait la Vérité aux atteintes de l'Envie et de la Discorde.jpg|''Time defending Truth from the attacks of Envy and Discord'', for the study of Cardinal Richelieu, 1642, Louvre
File:Frontispiece- Virgil, Publii Virgilii Maronis Opera MET DP822417.jpg|Frontispiece for the works of [[Virgil]] for the royal printing house, 1641, Metropolitan Museum
</gallery>
As the work of Poussin became well known in Rome, he received invitations to return to Paris for important royal commissions, proposed by [[François Sublet de Noyers]], the Superintendent of the [[Bâtiments du Roi]] for [[Louis XIII]]. When Poussin declined, Noyers sent his cousins, Roland Fréart de Chambray and Paul Fréart, to Rome to persuade Poussin to come home, offering him the title of [[Premier peintre du Roi|First Painter to the King]], plus a substantial residence at the [[Tuileries Palace]]. Poussin yielded, and in December 1640 he was back in Paris.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=31}}

The correspondence of Poussin to Cassiano dal Pozzo and his other friends in Rome show that he was appreciative of the money and honors, but he was quickly overwhelmed by a large number of commissions, particularly since he had taken the habit of working slowly and carefully. His new projects included ''The Institution of the Eucharist'' for the chapel of the [[Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye]], and ''The Miracle of Saint Francis-Xavier'' for the altar of the church of the novitiate of the Jesuits. In addition, he was asked to the ceilings and vaults for the [[Grand Galerie]] of the [[Louvre Palace]], and to paint a large allegorical work for the study of Cardinal Richelieu, on the theme ''Time Defending Truth from the Attacks of Envy and Discord'', with the figure of "Truth" clearly standing for Cardinal Richelieu. He was also expected to provide designs for royal tapestries and the front pieces for books from the royal printing house. He was also subjected to considerable criticism from the partisans of other French painters, including his old friend Simon Vouet. He completed a painting of the ''Last Supper'' (now in the Louvre), eight cartoons for the [[Gobelins manufactory|Gobelins]] tapestry manufactory, drawings for a proposed series of [[grisaille]] paintings of the ''Labors of Hercules'' for the Louvre, and a painting of the ''Triumph of Truth'' for Cardinal Richelieu (now in the Louvre). He was increasingly unhappy with the court intrigues and the overwhelming number of commissions. In the autumn of 1642, when the King and court were out of Paris in [[Languedoc]], he found a pretext to leave Paris and to return permanently to Rome.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=33–38}}

=== Final years in Rome (1642–1665) ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Landscape with orpheus and eurydice 1650-51.jpg|''Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice'', 1650–51
File:Poussin, Nicolas - Paysage avec Orion aveugle cherchant le soleil - 1658.jpg|''[[Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun]]'', 1658, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]
File:Nicolas Poussin - L'Été ou Ruth et Booz.jpg|''[[The Four Seasons (Poussin)|The Four Seasons (Summer)]]'', 1660–1664, Louvre
</gallery>
When he returned to Rome in 1642, he found the art world was in transition. Pope Urban VIII died in 1644, and the new Pope, [[Innocent X]], was less interested in art patronage, and preferred Spanish over French culture. Poussin's great patrons, the [[Barberini family|Barberinis]], departed Rome for France. He still had a few important patrons in Rome, including Cassiano dal Pozzo and the future Cardinal [[Camillo Massimi]], but began to paint more frequently for the patrons he had found in Paris. Cardinal Richelieu died in 1642, and Louis XIII died in 1643, and Poussin's Paris sponsor, Sublet de Noyer, lost his position, but Richelieu's successor, [[Cardinal Mazarin]], began to collect Poussin's works. In October 1643, Poussin sold the furnishings of his house in the [[Tuileries Palace|Tuileries]] in Paris, and settled for the rest of his life in Rome.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=38–40}}

In 1647, [[André Félibien]], the secretary of the French Embassy in Rome, became a friend and painting student of Poussin, and published the first book devoted entirely to his work. His growing number of French patrons included the Abbé Louis Fouquet, brother of [[Nicolas Fouquet]], the celebrated [[Superintendent of Finances]] of the young [[Louis XIV]]. In 1655 Fouquet obtained for Poussin official recognition of his earlier title as First Painter of the King, along with payment for his past French commissions. To thank Fouquet, Poussin made designs for the baths Fouquet was constructing at his château at [[Vaux-le-Vicomte]].{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|p=42}}

Another important French patron of Poussin in this period was [[Paul Fréart de Chantelou]], who came to Rome in 1643 and stayed there for several months. He commissioned from Poussin some of his most important works, including the second series of the ''[[Seven Sacraments (Poussin)|Seven Sacraments]]'', painted between 1644 and 1648, and his ''Landscape with Diogenes''.{{sfn|Wright|1985|p=211}} In 1649 he painted the ''Vision of St Paul'' for the comic poet [[Paul Scarron]], and in 1651 the ''Holy Family'' for [[Charles III de Créquy]]. Landscapes had been a secondary feature of his early work; in his later work nature and the landscape was frequently the central element of the painting.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=42–45}}

He lived an austere and comfortable life, working slowly and apparently without assistants. The painter [[Charles Le Brun]] joined him in Rome for three years, and Poussin's work had a major influence on Le Brun's style. In 1647, his patrons Chantelou and Pointel requested portraits of Poussin. He responded by making two self-portraits, completed together in 1649.{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=44–45}}

He suffered from declining health after 1650, and was troubled by a worsening tremor in his hand, evidence of which is apparent in his late drawings.{{sfn|Wright|1985|p=254}} Nonetheless, in his final eight years he painted some of the most ambitious and celebrated of his works, including ''The Birth of Bacchus'', ''Orion Blinded Searching for the Sun'', ''Landscape with Hercules and Cacus'', the four paintings of ''The Seasons'' and ''Apollo in love with Daphné''.

His wife Anne-Marie died in 1664, and thereafter his own health sank rapidly. On 21 September he dictated his will, and he died in Rome on 19 November 1665 and was buried in the church of [[San Lorenzo in Lucina]].{{sfn|Rosenberg|Temperini|1994|pp=48–49}}