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| Nicolas Poussin Putti with a Chariot and Goats 1626 tempera on linen Palazzo Barberini, Rome |
HISTORY: In the collection of Cardinal Flavio Chigi at his death in 1693; passed by descent to Marchesa Eleonora Incisa della Rocchetta, nata Chigi; [acquired after 1965 from the Incisa della Rocchetta family for the national collection].
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| Nicolas Poussin Putti with Goats and Mask 1626 tempera on linen Palazzo Barberini, Rome |
HISTORY: In the collection of Cardinal Flavio Chigi at his death in 1693; passed by descent to Marchesa Eleonora Incisa della Rocchetta, nata Chigi; [acquired after 1965 from the Incisa della Rocchetta family for the national collection].
"The putti themselves . . . implied for the ancients a reference to the afterlife and symbolize in their activities the delight prepared for those who in their life have been initiated to the Dionysiac mysteries. It is more than likely that they have this meaning in the two Children's Bacchanals painted by Poussin before 1630, in which their actions are similar to those on Roman sarcophagi, all in imitation of Dionysiac rites: they carry a thyrsus or a branch of vine, they draw a chariot pulled by a goat and filled with masks, they decorate herms with garlands of flowers, they carry lekythoi or plunge into huge kraters. The presence of a Herm of Janus in one of the pictures suggests an allusion to the passage of time, and the palm tree may be, as it usually is, a symbol of fertility."
"[Giovanni Pietro] Bellori states that these pictures were executed before the return to Rome of Cardinal Francesco Barberini, which occurred in December 1626, so the pictures can with almost complete certainty be dated to that year. The influence of Titian's Bacchanals is clearly evident. Many of the individual poses are taken directly from Titian's paintings, and the types of putti are exactly those shown in the Feast of Venus, of which both Poussin and his friend [François] Duquesnoy were to make such frequent and such original use during the following years . . ."
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| Titian Feast of Venus 1518-19 oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid |
" . . . Titian is, however, not Poussin's only source in these compositions, and he has been as much inspired by ancient sarcophagi reliefs. . . . These two paintings show how, at the very beginning of his Roman career, Poussin made his own synthesis of elements taken from Titian combined with others deriving from ancient reliefs. This is true of the composition as much as of the theme of the paintings, for whereas Titian's Bacchanals are richly designed in depth, Poussin's Children's Bacchanals are planned in strict bas-relief patterns, like the sarcophagi which inspired them."
HISTORY: According to [Giovanni Pietro] Bellori, painted for Cardinal Aluigi Omodei. Acquired by Louis XIV in 1684-85, perhaps as a gift, since there is no record of its purchase in the Comptes des bâtiments.
HISTORY: Various traditions, almost certainly unreliable, state that the picture was painted for Cardinal Richelieu, or that it came from the Colonna Palace or the Barberini Palace [in Rome]. [Not securely documented until the end of the 18th century, first in Paris and then in London; passed through several private British collections before purchase by the National Gallery in 1826.]
HISTORY: Probably Cassiano dal Pozzo collection. Spanish Royal Collection by 1701. Lord Beaumont sale, Foster, London, 1896, [bought by] Sir Herbert Cook. By descent to Sir Francis Cook; sold by him ca. 1950 [to Brazilian collector]. The fact that the São Paulo picture was at one time in the Spanish Royal Collection is established by a late eighteenth-century drawing after the picture by Manuel de la Cruz, discovered in the Lisbon Museum by Mrs. Henri Frankfort, with an inscription which specifically states that the original was in the Royal Palace in Madrid. It was presumably looted [by members of the British military] from the palace during the Peninsular War [early 19th century].
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| Nicolas Poussin The Triumph of Flora ca. 1627-28 oil on canvas Musée du Louvre |
HISTORY: According to [Giovanni Pietro] Bellori, painted for Cardinal Aluigi Omodei. Acquired by Louis XIV in 1684-85, perhaps as a gift, since there is no record of its purchase in the Comptes des bâtiments.
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| Nicolas Poussin The Kingdom of Flora 1631 oil on canvas Gemäldegalerie, Dresden |
HISTORY: Painted in 1631 for [Don Fabritio] Valguarnera. Recorded in the collection of the Electors and later the Kings of Saxony from 1722.
"It is remarkable that among the many paintings devoted [by Poussin] to stories from Ovid, not one deals with a person transformed into an animal, a bird, or a rock, whereas in the Kingdom of Flora Poussin showed every character mentioned in the Metamorphoses who was changed into a flower. Further, this painting follows in detail the list of such transformations given by Ovid in the Fasti in his description of the Floralia, or feast in honor of Flora, celebrated by the Romans in the month of May. It is true that [Cassiano dal] Pozzo and his friends [Poussin's early patrons] had a particular interest in the cultivation of flowers; but this is not a sufficient explanation of Poussin's choice, and I believe that it has a more profound meaning. The story of Arcas transformed into a bear, or Arachne into a spider, would have no meaning in terms of an allegory of death and regeneration, and it is for this reason that Poussin did not choose to paint them. The Triumph of Flora and the Kingdom of Flora, on the other hand, could be not merely anthologies of Ovidian stories but composite allegories on the death and rebirth which is constantly going on in nature. Some confirmation for this view is to be found in the fact that in both paintings Adonis is accompanied by Hyacinthus, another symbol of resurrection, of whom Ovid writes: "You are immortal: as often as spring drives winter out and the Ram succeeds the watery Fish, so often do you come up and blossom on the green turf."
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| Nicolas Poussin Bacchanal of the Andrians ca. 1631-33 oil on canvas Musée du Louvre |
HISTORY: Acquired by Louis XIV with the collection of the Duc de Richelieu [Armand Jean de Vignerot, 1629-1715] in 1665. Possibly inherited by him from his great-uncle, the Cardinal [Richelieu].
"In another Bacchanal Poussin takes up the theme of the Andrians described by Philostratus and painted by Titian. Poussin has imitated certain features of Titian's version of the subject, particularly the man pouring out wine and the main group of figures drinking in the foreground . . .
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| Titian Bacchanal of the Andrians 1523-26 oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid |
" . . . but he [Poussin] has been more explicit than Titian in following the description of Philostratus. The essence of the story is that, owing to the gift of Bacchus, the earth of the island of Andros is charged with wine, and this bursts out in the form of a river, from which the inhabitants drink. Both Titian and Poussin follow Philostratus' description of the river god lying on a couch of grape clusters, but, whereas Titian shows him as a very small figure in the background, Poussin gives him a much more prominent position on the left just behind the main group. He is attended by two youths, one of whom leads up the scared goat, while the other pours a libation of wine. In this picture [by Poussin] the association of Bacchus with the idea of fertility is brought out explicitly, the more so since the river god is given the features that would normally be associated with Bacchus himself."
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| Nicolas Poussin Triumph of Pan 1636 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
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| anonymous copy after lost original by Nicolas Poussin Triumph of Bacchus 1635-36 (date of the original) oil on canvas Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City |
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| anonymous copy after lost original by Nicolas Poussin Triumph of Silenus ca. 1637 (date of the original) oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
BACCHANALS FOR THE CHATEAU DE RICHELIEU – a series of three paintings, above, one an original and the other two copies of lost originals – commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu in the mid-1630's as part of a decorative scheme for the so-called Cabinet du Roi within the palace he built at Touraine, where they remained until the collection was dispersed at the end of the 18th century, following the French Revolution. The Chateau itself was demolished in 1805.
"Both the Triumph of Bacchus and the Triumph of Pan are remarkable for the elaborate display of ritual objects, copied from ancient reliefs of Bacchic ceremonies. The foreground of the Triumph of Pan is littered with masks – tragic, comic, and satirical – referring to the Bacchic origin of the drama, and beside them are the pipes and bent stick of Pan and the various instruments used in Bacchic riots: thyrsus, tambourine, wine jar, and baskets of flowers, the last being specifically connected with Pan as identified with Priapus. In the Triumph of Bacchus, the god is accompanied not only by votaries carrying the thyrsus, tambourines, the serpent trumpet, and the standard inscribed with the words Evoe, Evoe, but also the particular figures mentioned in ancient accounts of the Indian triumph: Pan with his pipes and stick, Silenus waving a branch of vine, and Hercules carrying the tripod that he stole from Apollo, who himself appears in the sky driving his chariot. The river god in the foreground is crowned with ivy, a plant sacred to Bacchus, and holds a branch of it in his hand, while a putto on the left, crowned with laurel, hands a branch of vine to the centaurs drawing the chariot. This attention to archaeological detail is undoubtedly a reflection of the interests in such matters characteristic of Cassiano dal Pozzo's circle, but there is ample evidence to show that Poussin himself studied these things in detail. . . . From the early accounts it is clear that a third painting by Poussin, the Triumph of Silenus, was painted, presumably very soon after the first two Bacchanals, and incorporated in the series."
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| Nicolas Poussin Triumph of Neptune ca. 1635-36 oil on canvas Philadelphia Museum of Art |
"According to early biographers, Poussin also executed for Cardinal Richelieu a Triumph of Neptune, which can be certainly identified as the picture now at Philadelphia. . . . It is composed on the same principle of balancing diagonals as the Pan and has the same finality of design. . . . The debt to Raphael in the Triumph of Neptune is evident. The putto in the foreground comes from the Galatea; the Neptune is reminiscent of an engraving by Marcantonio, and the nymph turning her back is taken from the Farnesina ceiling; but it seems that Raphael and Poussin probably have a common source in ancient art."
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| Nicolas Poussin Bacchanal before a Herm ca. 1635-39 oil on canvas National Gallery, London |
HISTORY: Various traditions, almost certainly unreliable, state that the picture was painted for Cardinal Richelieu, or that it came from the Colonna Palace or the Barberini Palace [in Rome]. [Not securely documented until the end of the 18th century, first in Paris and then in London; passed through several private British collections before purchase by the National Gallery in 1826.]
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| Nicolas Poussin Dance in Honor of Priapus ca. 1637-38 oil on canvas Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil |
HISTORY: Probably Cassiano dal Pozzo collection. Spanish Royal Collection by 1701. Lord Beaumont sale, Foster, London, 1896, [bought by] Sir Herbert Cook. By descent to Sir Francis Cook; sold by him ca. 1950 [to Brazilian collector]. The fact that the São Paulo picture was at one time in the Spanish Royal Collection is established by a late eighteenth-century drawing after the picture by Manuel de la Cruz, discovered in the Lisbon Museum by Mrs. Henri Frankfort, with an inscription which specifically states that the original was in the Royal Palace in Madrid. It was presumably looted [by members of the British military] from the palace during the Peninsular War [early 19th century].
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| Nicolas Poussin Dance in Honor of Priapus (detail) ca. 1637-38 oil on canvas Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Brazil |
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| anonymous copy after lost original by Nicolas Poussin Bacchanal in front of a Temple ca. 1649-50 (date of the original) oil on canvas Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (M.H. de Young Memorial Museum) |
HISTORY: Painted for 'Mr. du Fresne,' probably Raphael Trichet du Fresne, the director of the royal printing press in Paris. . . . It is not clear why this composition enjoyed such a great success, or why so many copies of it were made [Blunt lists 20 known copies, including the one directly above]. If, however, I am right in supposing that the original was painted about 1650, that is to say much later than the other Bacchanals, it would have enjoyed the unique privilege of being a gay subject but painted in Poussin's classical manner, which was more generally admired in the seventeenth century than his earlier Venetian style.
"Three additional Bacchic compositions planned or executed about this time probably have subjects connected with Priapus. The first is Bacchanal before a Herm in the National Gallery, London. Although the herm has always been identified as representing Pan, the fact that it is hung with garlands of flowers and that there are floral wreaths in the foreground suggests that it is really the image of Priapus, the god of gardens. In the second painting, Dance in Honor of Priapus, now in São Paulo, an unusually large canvas probably executed with the help of assistants, the allusion to gardens is even clearer, for the statue is set against a sort of pergola decorated with garlands of fruit and flowers, which recalls Mantegna. . . . The third painting is the Bacchanal in front of a Temple, which was probably not painted till much later."
– Anthony Blunt, Nicolas Poussin, (Phaidon Press, 1958) and The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: a Critical Catalogue (Phaidon Press, 1966)