Nicolas Poussin

 Nicolas Poussin

    The topic that I had chosen is Nicolas Poussin. Nicolas Poussin was the greatest French painter in the seventeenth century. Poussin used his paintings and works to send a message about the issues that were going on during that time. Poussin had ended up changing the style of his artwork. While his career was developing, so was his style of art. Poussin’s artwork would later become more dense in the meaning behind it. The JSTOR article I had chosen is called “Poussin’s Reflection” by Jonathan Unglaub. The article’s main idea, by Unglaub, is about how Poussin’s works are overall a reflection of …. Just how chapter 15 had talked about his works having messages behind them. In the JSTOR article, it had discussed something similar where, “The condition of reflection seems to apply to Poussin’s works only in the abstract philosophical sense of a meditation on the illustrated subject. 

   

Nicolas Poussin 
Influenced by: Raphael, Piedro de Cortona,
 Titian, Guido Reni

The JSTOR article had discussed more into depth on a particular painting. Chapter 15 had talked about how his works had messages behind them but not to the extent the JSTOR article had mentioned. The JSTOR article for example had talked about how his artworks are “...reflections [that] pervade Poussin’s works and form a crucial element of their aesthetics' brilliance” (Unglaub 509). Poussin’s artworks had used methods that mirror the figures that are in the painting. Poussin’s artworks are more complex than other paintings which made him one of the greatest painters during his time. In module 8 of this lesson, it had stated about Kings and Queens of England, but not the importance of Nicolas Poussin. Poussin was considered one of the greatest painters of the time, and the module had not gone over him as much as I thought it would. The module outline had discussed King James I and Queen Elizabeth. For instance “This historic event occurred because Elizabeth died without an heir, thus power in England transitioned to the King of Scotland, James VI. 

  

    I had chosen the JSTOR article due to how in depth the article had gone through about Nicolas Poussin. The article had extended information about why his paintings were so significant during that time period. The article had discussed how much of an intellectual painter he actually was due to the style of paintings he creates. The article had stated “The artist’s fascination with the depiction of reflections is consistent with his larger interest in the optical effects of paintings throughout the 1630’s” (Unglaub 511). The style and the ways he thinks about creating these art pieces was very intriguing to learn about. Poussin’s style of mirroring art is something that I had never learned before about in another artist. 

Works Cited

LearnFromMasters, director. Nicolas Poussin: A Collection of 145 Paintings (HD). YouTube, YouTube,

    20 Sept. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPn2_uZTFi8.

Unglaub, Jonathan. “Poussin's Reflection.” The Art Bulletin, vol. 86, no. 3, 2004, pp. 505–528.

    

    JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/4134444. Accessed 7 May 2021.