DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.68073#0304
278
OLD WORLD MASTERS
The puzzle is to find Jupiter! In Smith’s Catalogue raisonne we
read:
“The god under the form of Diana is represented sitting on a shady
bank embracing the beautiful nymph, who sits by his side with a
spear in her hand; seven Cupids are sporting around them, one of
which, while flying, is discharging an arrow from his bow; a second
is playing with the hounds of the supposed huntress; a third holds
up the blazing torch of love; and two others, buoyant among the trees,
are casting flowers on the heads of the lovers.
“In his very beautiful pictures illustrative of ancient mythology
Poussin has treated the various subjects in a style that proves he per-
fectly understood the mystery of the allegories therein contained and
employed with the happiest effect the numerous symbolical figures to
denote qualities, places, and things. His style, although unquestion-
ably of French origin, owes all its beauty to his subsequent study of a
few of the great Italian Masters, and of ancient sculpture. To such
an extent was he carried in his enthusiastic admiration of the latter,
that most of the celebrated statues and monuments, both of Greek
and Roman origin, may be recognized in his pictures. This fondness
for the chaste beauty of the antique may have led him in some instances
so far as to give to his figures a rigidity which ill accords with the
elasticity of nature. This defect (if it be one), is amply compensated
by the grace and dignity of attitude and the chaste correctness of
drawing which pervades his works. Execution, that medium by which
the conceptions of a painter are embodied, and by which the con-
noisseur is frequently enabled to judge of the originality of a picture, is
distinguished in the Artist (in his best period) by breadth and pre-
cision of hand, and a firm and decided outline; every touch of the
pencil appears the result of consideration and profound knowledge,
and in this respect it is the very reverse of that rapidity and dexterous
freedom of hand observable in the works of Rubens, Paul Veronese,
and Giordano.”
Poussin spent almost his entire life in Rome. Born at Villiers near
Les Andelys in Normandy in 1594, he went to Paris at the age of
eighteen to study art, having had some training under Quentin Varin
OLD WORLD MASTERS
The puzzle is to find Jupiter! In Smith’s Catalogue raisonne we
read:
“The god under the form of Diana is represented sitting on a shady
bank embracing the beautiful nymph, who sits by his side with a
spear in her hand; seven Cupids are sporting around them, one of
which, while flying, is discharging an arrow from his bow; a second
is playing with the hounds of the supposed huntress; a third holds
up the blazing torch of love; and two others, buoyant among the trees,
are casting flowers on the heads of the lovers.
“In his very beautiful pictures illustrative of ancient mythology
Poussin has treated the various subjects in a style that proves he per-
fectly understood the mystery of the allegories therein contained and
employed with the happiest effect the numerous symbolical figures to
denote qualities, places, and things. His style, although unquestion-
ably of French origin, owes all its beauty to his subsequent study of a
few of the great Italian Masters, and of ancient sculpture. To such
an extent was he carried in his enthusiastic admiration of the latter,
that most of the celebrated statues and monuments, both of Greek
and Roman origin, may be recognized in his pictures. This fondness
for the chaste beauty of the antique may have led him in some instances
so far as to give to his figures a rigidity which ill accords with the
elasticity of nature. This defect (if it be one), is amply compensated
by the grace and dignity of attitude and the chaste correctness of
drawing which pervades his works. Execution, that medium by which
the conceptions of a painter are embodied, and by which the con-
noisseur is frequently enabled to judge of the originality of a picture, is
distinguished in the Artist (in his best period) by breadth and pre-
cision of hand, and a firm and decided outline; every touch of the
pencil appears the result of consideration and profound knowledge,
and in this respect it is the very reverse of that rapidity and dexterous
freedom of hand observable in the works of Rubens, Paul Veronese,
and Giordano.”
Poussin spent almost his entire life in Rome. Born at Villiers near
Les Andelys in Normandy in 1594, he went to Paris at the age of
eighteen to study art, having had some training under Quentin Varin