DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.62822#0167
NICHOLAS POUSSIN.
95
Ancient History.
effects of virulent poison. On one side of him is seated his
disconsolate wife, Agrippina, bathed in tears, and near her
are three of his children; the youngest is in the arms of a
female standing behind. Around his couch stand a number
of his faithful soldiers, deeply affected at the approaching
dissolution of their beloved general; to these he is turning his
dying countenance, and appears, by the motion of his hand,
to be recommending his wife and children to their protection.
This excellent picture was painted for the Cardinal Barberini.
Engraved by Chatillon, Coelmans, and twice anonymous, one
of which is in mezzotinto.
177. The Death of Philemon. The Greek poet is repre-
sented sitting at the exterior of a building, with his hands
clasped, his countenance greatly excited, and his whole frame
apparently convulsed with laughter, at seeing an ass eating
figs from a basket, which stands on a pedestal at the side.
A young man, the owner of the beast, stands on the farther
side pointing to some distant object.
This picture was formerly in the collection of M. Dufournay.
178. The Plague of Athens. It is, perhaps, impossible for
art to depict with greater pathos or more solemn effect, a
subject so heart-rending as this picture exhibits. The view
is a street of the splendid city of Athens, over which numbers
of the plague-stricken inhabitants are distributed; some ex-
tended on the ground, others prostrated at the portals of the
temples and public buildings. Among a group of the afflicted,
in the fore-ground, are three women, two of them lying on
mattresses, and the third seated at the side; near the latter
95
Ancient History.
effects of virulent poison. On one side of him is seated his
disconsolate wife, Agrippina, bathed in tears, and near her
are three of his children; the youngest is in the arms of a
female standing behind. Around his couch stand a number
of his faithful soldiers, deeply affected at the approaching
dissolution of their beloved general; to these he is turning his
dying countenance, and appears, by the motion of his hand,
to be recommending his wife and children to their protection.
This excellent picture was painted for the Cardinal Barberini.
Engraved by Chatillon, Coelmans, and twice anonymous, one
of which is in mezzotinto.
177. The Death of Philemon. The Greek poet is repre-
sented sitting at the exterior of a building, with his hands
clasped, his countenance greatly excited, and his whole frame
apparently convulsed with laughter, at seeing an ass eating
figs from a basket, which stands on a pedestal at the side.
A young man, the owner of the beast, stands on the farther
side pointing to some distant object.
This picture was formerly in the collection of M. Dufournay.
178. The Plague of Athens. It is, perhaps, impossible for
art to depict with greater pathos or more solemn effect, a
subject so heart-rending as this picture exhibits. The view
is a street of the splendid city of Athens, over which numbers
of the plague-stricken inhabitants are distributed; some ex-
tended on the ground, others prostrated at the portals of the
temples and public buildings. Among a group of the afflicted,
in the fore-ground, are three women, two of them lying on
mattresses, and the third seated at the side; near the latter