Editing Nicolas Poussin (section)

=== 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}}