Nicolas Poussin Paintings and the Order of Sacred Classicism
Nicolas Poussin is the founder of French classical painting and the greatest French religious painter of the seventeenth century. The Nicolas Poussin paintings that survive today, more than two hundred securely attributed works, defined the classical idiom of European religious art for the next two centuries. He left France for Rome in 1624 and spent almost the whole of his career there, working for the great Catholic patrons of the papal city, the French ambassadors, and the leading collectors of the Roman seventeenth century.
This article gathers ten of his most important religious works, the panels and large canvases that made him the founding voice of the French classical tradition.
From Les Andelys to Rome
Nicolas Poussin was born in June 1594 in Les Andelys, a small Norman town in the Seine valley. He trained first in his region with the late Mannerist painter Quentin Varin before moving to Paris in 1612. After several false starts and one failed attempt to travel to Italy, he finally reached Rome in 1624, where he settled for almost the whole of his career. He returned briefly to Paris from 1640 to 1642 to work for Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIII, but the Roman classical tradition was the deeper home of his art.
His mature manner is built on the calm classical principles of the high Renaissance, especially Raphael, the late Cinquecento Roman school, and the antique sculpture he studied for decades in the Roman museums. He was the founding theorist of what later French criticism called the doctrine of Atticism, the calm classical reading of religious and mythological subjects in measured architectural compositions and balanced colour.
The Assumption of the Virgin
Painted around 1626 for an early Roman patron, this great altarpiece shows the Virgin Mary ascending bodily into heaven, surrounded by a host of angels. The composition is one of Poussin’s most lyrical religious paintings, with the Virgin’s mantle billowing in the wind of paradise and the empty tomb visible below her in the open ground. The colour is dominated by deep blue, gold, and rose, and the composition is built on a single soaring vertical.
The painting is at the National Gallery of Art in Washington. For a wider survey, see our article on famous Assumption of the Virgin paintings.
The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus
Painted between 1628 and 1629 for Cardinal Francesco Barberini and the high altar of the Saint Erasmus chapel in Saint Peter’s Basilica, this great altarpiece is the only major Poussin commission for the Vatican. The third century bishop of Formia is shown at the moment of his torture, his intestines being drawn out on a windlass by Roman soldiers while an angel descends from above with the palm of martyrdom. The composition is dramatic but classically balanced, with the body of the saint as the bright centre of the picture.
The original is at the Pinacoteca Vaticana, having been removed from Saint Peter’s Basilica in the eighteenth century. A mosaic copy now occupies the original chapel.
Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery
Painted in 1653 for the Parisian patron Le Nôtre, this large canvas shows the Gospel scene in which the Pharisees bring before Christ a woman accused of adultery, hoping to trap him. Poussin stages the moment with the calm classical dignity of his late style, with Christ standing in the centre of a deep architectural space writing in the dust while the Pharisees argue around him and the woman kneels in the foreground.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Room 826 of the Department of Paintings.
The Adoration of the Golden Calf
The Old Testament scene from Exodus 32 shows the Israelites dancing around the golden calf they made while Moses was on Mount Sinai. Poussin paints the moment with the classical clarity of his mature Roman style, with the figures arranged in a great horizontal frieze of bodies in motion. The painting is one of his most reproduced compositions and a key statement of his belief that ancient subjects, biblical or pagan, must be treated with classical balance.
The painting is at the National Gallery in London.
The Massacre of the Innocents
One of Poussin’s most violent religious paintings, this picture shows the moment in Matthew’s Gospel when King Herod’s soldiers slaughter the male infants of Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the newborn Christ. Poussin paints the scene with a single focused image of horror, with the mother screaming as the soldier raises his sword above her child. The composition is reduced to its essential meaning and has been one of the most studied early Poussin compositions.
The painting is at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels.
The Baptism of Christ
From Poussin’s great series of the Seven Sacraments, painted between about 1638 and 1640 for the Roman collector Cassiano dal Pozzo, this panel illustrates the sacrament of baptism through the gospel scene of John baptising Christ in the Jordan. The composition is built on calm classical principles, with Christ kneeling at the centre while the Baptist pours water over his head and the dove of the Holy Spirit descends from above.
The painting is at the Musée du Grand Siècle in Saint-Cloud. For a wider context, see our article on famous Baptism of Christ paintings.
Landscape with Saint John on Patmos
One of Poussin’s most lyrical religious landscapes, this panel shows the apostle John seated in the foreground of a vast Roman ruined landscape, writing the Book of Revelation. The composition is built on the calm classical principles of the Roman classical landscape tradition, with the figure of the apostle reduced to a small element in a vast cosmic space. The picture is often paired with its companion, the Landscape with Saint Matthew at Berlin.
The painting is at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Landscape with Saint Matthew and the Angel
The companion painting to the Saint John on Patmos, this panel shows Saint Matthew writing his Gospel under the inspiration of an angel in a similar Roman ruined landscape. The composition is built on the same calm classical principles, and the two panels together form one of the most concentrated statements of the seventeenth century Roman classical religious landscape tradition.
The painting is at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin.
The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint James the Great
This great altarpiece illustrates the medieval legend in which the Virgin Mary appeared to the apostle Saint James the Great in Spain in 40 AD, founding the famous Marian shrine of Zaragoza. Poussin paints the apparition with calm classical balance, the Virgin appearing in a halo of light above the kneeling apostle.
The painting is at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Room 828 of the Department of Paintings.
The Finding of Moses
The Old Testament scene from Exodus 2 shows the infant Moses found by the daughter of Pharaoh in the rushes of the Nile. Poussin paints the moment with the calm classical clarity of his late Roman style, with the figures arranged in a measured frieze along the foreground of the picture and a vast Egyptian landscape opening behind them.
The painting is at the National Gallery in London.
For more context on Poussin’s seventeenth century French and Roman world, see our articles on his Parisian contemporary Philippe de Champaigne, on the Atticist Eustache Le Sueur, and on the great Roman Baroque masters whose Roman city Poussin shared.
Summary Table of Nicolas Poussin’s Religious Paintings
| Name | Artist | Date | Medium | Museum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Assumption of the Virgin | Nicolas Poussin | c. 1626 | Oil on canvas | National Gallery of Art, Washington |
| The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus | Nicolas Poussin | 1628 to 1629 | Oil on canvas | Pinacoteca Vaticana |
| Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery | Nicolas Poussin | 1653 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| The Adoration of the Golden Calf | Nicolas Poussin | c. 1634 | Oil on canvas | National Gallery, London |
| The Massacre of the Innocents | Nicolas Poussin | c. 1628 | Oil on canvas | Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels |
| The Baptism of Christ | Nicolas Poussin | c. 1638 to 1640 | Oil on canvas | Musée du Grand Siècle |
| Landscape with Saint John on Patmos | Nicolas Poussin | 1640 | Oil on canvas | Art Institute of Chicago |
| Landscape with Saint Matthew and the Angel | Nicolas Poussin | 1640 | Oil on canvas | Gemäldegalerie, Berlin |
| The Apparition of the Virgin to Saint James the Great | Nicolas Poussin | c. 1629 to 1630 | Oil on canvas | Louvre Museum, Paris |
| The Finding of Moses | Nicolas Poussin | 1651 | Oil on canvas | National Gallery, London |
Conclusion
Poussin’s religious painting is the founding statement of French classical art. He created the visual idiom of the calm Roman seventeenth century classical landscape and the dignified balanced gospel scene, and that idiom shaped European religious painting from David and Ingres to Cézanne and beyond. His decision to spend almost the whole of his career in Rome rather than in Paris is the central paradox of his art. He became the founder of French classicism by living in the city where the Italian Renaissance had been born.
Important Facts About Nicolas Poussin
- Nicolas Poussin was born in June 1594 in Les Andelys, a small Norman town in the Seine valley, the son of a soldier of modest background.
- He trained first with the late Mannerist painter Quentin Varin in his native Normandy and then in Paris from 1612, before finally reaching Rome in 1624, where he spent almost the whole of his career.
- Poussin is the founding figure of French classical painting and is celebrated for his calm classical compositions, his dignified treatment of biblical and mythological subjects, and his measured Roman landscape tradition.
- His most famous religious cycle is the Seven Sacraments, painted twice between about 1638 and 1648 for the Roman collector Cassiano dal Pozzo and for the French ambassador Paul Fréart de Chantelou, of which the second series is now at the National Galleries of Scotland.
- He died on 19 November 1665 in Rome, having served briefly as principal painter to Louis XIII in 1640 to 1642 before returning permanently to the papal city, and his classical manner shaped French academic painting for the next two centuries.
Questions and Answers About Nicolas Poussin Paintings
What is Nicolas Poussin’s most famous painting?
Among his religious works, the great Seven Sacraments cycles are the most studied. The Et in Arcadia Ego at the Louvre is his most famous mythological painting. Among the works covered in this article, the Assumption of the Virgin at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and the Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus at the Vatican are the most often reproduced.
Where can I see Nicolas Poussin paintings today?
The Louvre in Paris holds the largest single collection of his works, including Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery, the Apparition of the Virgin to Saint James, and several mythological paintings. The National Gallery in London, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Hermitage in Saint Petersburg, the Prado in Madrid, and the Vatican Museums all hold significant religious works.
What style is Nicolas Poussin associated with?
Poussin is the founding figure of French classical painting and one of the central masters of the Roman classical seventeenth century. His mature style is built on calm compositional balance, measured architectural space, classical figural drawing inspired by Raphael and antique sculpture, and the careful study of ancient sources. He is the great seventeenth century antagonist of the Baroque drama of Bernini and the Italian Baroque.
Why did Poussin live in Rome?
The young Poussin was drawn to Rome by the great Renaissance and antique tradition that he had studied through engravings and prints during his Parisian years. He arrived in 1624 at the age of thirty and remained for most of the next forty-one years, briefly returning to Paris in 1640 to 1642 to work for Cardinal Richelieu but finding the French court too restrictive. Rome was the city of antique sculpture and Raphael, the two sources he loved most.
What are the Seven Sacraments?
The two great cycles of the Seven Sacraments, painted by Poussin between about 1638 and 1648, illustrate the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance, Ordination, Marriage, and Extreme Unction) through scenes from the New Testament. The first series was painted for Cassiano dal Pozzo and is now divided between several museums; the second series was painted for Paul Fréart de Chantelou and is now at the National Galleries of Scotland.
How does Poussin compare with his contemporaries?
Poussin stood at one extreme of the seventeenth century European spectrum. Where Bernini and the Roman Baroque masters created vast theatrical religious imagery full of movement and drama, Poussin painted small measured classical compositions with a few figures arranged in calm architectural spaces. Where his French Atticist contemporaries Le Sueur and Champaigne shared his classical principles, Poussin took them further than any of them and gave French classicism its most authoritative voice.
Where can I buy a canvas reproduction of a Nicolas Poussin painting?
You can buy them at jesuschrist.pictures, in our shop: see all the canvas canvas prints, ready to hang, in several sizes.
