Nikola Poussin (1594-1665) Despite the fact that in Italy Poussin was very popular and regularly received orders, in his homeland, in France, court artists expressed their work negatively. And Poussin himself, forced to live at the French court, wandered on solar

Willem Clas Hedda (1593/1594-1680 / 1682) Still life with cancer 1650-1659. National Gallery, Londonv Dutch painting of the XVII century. Much distribution received still life. This genre was characterized by a variety of "Podzhanrov". Each Master usually adhered to her topic.

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Nikola Pussen (1594, Les-Anqueli, Normandy - November 19, 1665, Rome) - French artist who was standing at the origins of the painting of classicism. For a long time lived and worked in Rome. Almost all of his paintings - on historical and mythological plots. Master of the chased, rhythmic composition. One of

the first estimates the monumentality of local color.

The artist, a philosopher, a scientist and thinker, in the art of which the main role plays a rational start, Poussin and his personality, and its creativity embodies French classicism. His painting is thematically multifaceted - he chooses the plots of religious, historical, mythological, inspired by antique oodas, or modern literature.

Poussin begins his studies in France. From 1622 he receives orders in Paris for religious works. Together with F. De Champhen participates in the scenery of the Luxembourg Palace (not preserved). The first stay of Pussen in Rome lasts from 1624 to 1640. His artistic addiction is formed here, it copies the ancient monuments, the Vakhanlia Titian, studies the works of Raphael. But, remaining forever committed to "decent and noble nature", ideal, Pussen does not accept the art of Caravaggio, the naturalism of the Flemish and Dutch school, opposes the influence of Rubens, his understanding of painting. The addition of his artistic worldview contributes to the stay from 1624 in the workshop Domenicino. Pussen is becoming a direct successor tradition of the perfect landscape laid out by an Italian master.

Soon in Rome, the artist gets acquainted with Cardinal Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, for whom the "death of Germany" writes. Between 1627 and 1633, it serves a number of machine paintings for Roman collectors. Then his masterpieces appear " Inspiration of the poet "," The Kingdom of Flora "," Triumph Flora "," Tancred and Herminia "," Mourning Christ " .

Creativity Poussa for painting history is difficult to overestimate: it is the founder of such a style of painting as classicism. French artists have been traditionally familiar with the art of Italian Renaissance. But they were inspired by the works of Masters of Italian Mannerism, Baroque, Caravagizism. Pussen was the first French painter who took the tradition of classic style Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael. Turning to the themes of ancient mythology, ancient history, the Bible, Poussin revealed the themes of the modern era. Naughty

he brought up the works of the perfect person, showing and having sample examples of high morality, civil values. Clarity, constancy and orderliness of fine techniques of Pussen, the ideological and moral focus of his art later made his creativity with a reference for the Academy of Painting and Sculpture of France, which took up the development of aesthetic norms, formal canons and generally binding rules of artistic creativity (the so-called "Academism")

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In one of the essays constituting the "history of painting of all times and peoples", A. N. Benua solely accurately determined the basis of artistic search for the investigator of European classicism - Nikola

PUSUSEN: "His art captures a very large circle of experiences, feelings and knowledge. However, the main feature of his work was to reduce only one harmonious whole. In it, eclecticism celebrates its apoophyosis, but not as an academic, school doctrine, but as an achievement of the desire for allocations, and all compounds, and all compounds. Actually, this is the guidance idea of \u200b\u200bclassicism, which found in Poussin of his greatest expressor precisely because "the sense of measure and its most eclecticism is the choice and learning of the beautiful - were the features of non-daddy and arbitrary order, but the main property of his soul."

Numerous products of Pussen and biographical sources together with an extensive housing of the pussy studies allow you to quite clearly present the process of becoming an artistic wizard's art system.

Poussin was born in 1594 in Normandy (according to legend, in the village of Viller near the city of Andelki). Early

i broke down the love of art, multiplied by a strong will, encourages the young provincial to leave the native places, steadily to endure everyday adversity, settle in Paris, so that from there, after several unsuccessful attempts to get to the "Motherland of Arts", to the artistic capital of the world - Rome. Thirst for knowledge and skill, exceptional working capacity, constantly trained and, due to this, an unusually developed memory allow the young artist to master the department of culture, to absorb the diversity of artistic and aesthetic experience - from Greco-Roman antiquity to modern art. The intelligence of the master focused in the nutrient medium serves as a means of pairing spiritual values \u200b\u200baccumulated by centuries, and generates a system of philosophical and aesthetic orientations that determine the sublime meaning of Pussenovsky creativity.

This schematic characteristic of a creative person should add an obvious indifference to the honors and a tendency to solitude. Literally, everything in the biography of Poussin testifies to the fact that Decartes expressed so well in his famous recognition: "I will always consider myself a lot to use the gravity of which I can enjoy your leisure, rather than those who would suggest me the most honorable posts on Earth.

Evaluating his creative way, Poussin said that "nothing neglected" during the years of quest. Indeed, with the dominant orientation on antiquity, the art of Poussin glorifies the elements of a wide variety of influences.

At the beginning of the way - this is the impact of the first and second schools of Fontinblo, as evidenced by both painting and the graphics of the young Pussen. Markantonio Raimondi engravings serve as a source of acquaintance with Rafael's heritage, the art of which Poussin will subsequently compare with Mother's Milk.

According to J. P. Bellory, one of the first Biographers of Poussin, a important role in the formation of the artist was played by a certain round, "Royal Mathematics".

Around 1614-1615, after a trip to Puatu, he meets in Paris with Alexander Curuta (Alexandre Courtois), Vedemonary Queen Mary Medici, Keeper of the Royal Art Collections and Libraries, Poussin got the opportunity to visit the Louvre and copy pictures of Italian artists there. Alexander Kuutua owned a collection of engravings from the paintings of the Italians of Rafael and Julio Romano, which delighted Pussen. Once sick, Poussin spent some time from his parents before returning to Paris again.

"This person, - reports Bellory, - passionately passionate in the picture, who was the keeper of a rich collection of wonderful engravings with Julio Romano and Rafael, captivated with them soul of Nikola, who copied them with such a zeal and so correct that he managed to comprehend the skill of the drawing, the transmission of movements, skill Plan and other wonderful qualities of these masters. " The same cloos enlightens a young painter in the field of mathematics, engaged in the prospect of him. Curo lessons, hitting the fertile soil, will give generous shoots.

In the same Paris years, the artist is rapprochement with the famous poet of Jambattist Marino,

the namoor of baroque poetry in Italy, which arrived in Paris at the invitation of Margarita de Valua and was graciously adopted at the courtyard of Mary Medici. Having spent eight years in Paris, Marino became, according to I. N. Golenishcheva-Kutuzov, "as if the link connecting Italian culture with French"; His influence did not escape even the pillar of classicism Mahler. And in vain, some researchers tertay the poet as allegedly mannered and shallow in their work: quite even a runaway acquaintance with Marino poetry to assess the brilliance of his talent. In the actual influence of the poet on the young Pussen, at least, no doubt. Mirino distinguished by the broader erudition, Marino turned in front of the painter's beautiful pages of ancient and new literature, strengthened his passionate attraction to antiquity art and helped realize the dream of Italy. Baroque orientation of the poet, his ideas of the interconnected arts (primarily painting, poetry and music), his sensualism and pantheism could not but affect the formation of the aesthetic views of Poussin, which perhaps and entailed the interest in the art of Baroque, which accompanies the development of Pussen in

early period of creativity. (This circumstance is usually a little taken into account by Pussenian.) Finally, under the direct leadership, Marino young Poussin is engaged in the "translation" of poetic images into the language of visual art, illustrating the metamorphosis of Ovid.

Courtois and Marino are not just influential and widely educated people, in time with the support of a young painter. Essentially, firstly, that it was a mathematician and poet, and secondly, representatives of two cultures and two worldviews. The rationalism of the first (characteristic of the French spirit as a whole) and the lackless fantasy of the second (Marino is not only a poet, but also the phenomenon of Stile Moderno in its brightest - Italian version) the essence of two poles of the world, in which the genius of Poussin had to reveal themselves. It is worth noting that the most exciting art events often occur precisely on the borders of cultures and languages.

In September 1618, Poussin lived on Saint-Germain-L'Serua Street at the Masters of Golden Affairs Jean Guilleman (Jean Guillemen), which also came with. He came from the address on June 9, 1619. In about 1619-1620, Poussin creates a canvas " St. Denis Areopag » For the Paris Church Saint-Germain-L'Zerua.

In 1622, Poussin is again started on the road towards Rome, but stops in Lyon to fulfill

order: Parisian Jesuit College instructed Pousinu and other artists to write six large paintings on the plots from the lives of St. Ignatia Loiol and St. Francis Xavaryia. Pictures performed in A la Détrempe technique are not preserved. The creativity of Poussin attracted the attention of living in France, at the invitation of Mary Medici, the Italian poet and Cavaller Marino; 1569-1625).

In 1623, probably by order of the Paris Archbishop de Gondi, Poussin performs "The death of the Virgin Mary" (La Mort De La Vierge) for the Altar of the Paris Cathedral of Notre Dame. This canvas, considered in the XIX-XX centuries lost, was found in the Church of the Belgian city of Sterrebeek. Marino's Cavalier, with whom Poussin tied a close friendship, in April 1623 returned to Italy.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Poussin managed to finally get to Italy. For a while he was delayed in Venice. Then, enriched with the artistic ideas of Venetians, arrived in Rome.

Rome of this time was the only one of its kind the center of European art, capable of satisfying all the requests of the appeal of the painter. The young artist remained to choose. Here Poussin is immersed in the study of antique art, literature and philosophy, the Bible, renaissance treatises about art, etc. Sketches of antique reliefs, statues, architectural fragments, copies of paintings and frescoes, copies of sculptures in clay and wax - all of this demonstrates how deep I mastered the Poussin of its material. Biographers in one voice are talking about the exclusive hardworking of the artist. Poussin continues to occupies geometry, perspective, anatomy, studying the optics, seeking to comprehend the "reasonable basis of the beautiful."

But if theoretically, the trend towards the rational synthesis of achievements of European artistic culture has already been fully defined and the line "Rafael - Antiquity" was established as a general, then the creative practice of Pussen in the early Roman years detects a number of externally contradicting orientations. With closer attention to Bologna Academism, to strict

the art of Domenicino is adjacent to the deep passion for Venetians, especially Titian, and noticeable interest in the Roman baroque.

The allocation of these lines of artistic orientation of Poussin in the early Roman period, which has long been approved in art historical literature, can hardly be seriously challenged. However, at the heart of such a diverse referrty to the master of the master lies the pattern of general order, which has a fundamental importance for understanding the art of Pussen in general.

In 1626, Poussin received the first order from Cardinal Barberini: Write a picture "The destruction of Jerusalem" (not survived). Later he wrote a second version of this picture (1636-1638; Vienna, Museum of Art History).

In 1627, Poussin wrote a picture "Death of Germany" According to the story of the Ancient Roman historian Tacitis, which is considered a programmic product of classicism; It shows the farewell of legionnaires with a dying commander. The death of the hero is perceived as a tragedy of social importance. The topic is interpreted in the spirit of calm and harsh heroes of an ancient narrative. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe picture is the ministry of debt. The artist placed the figures and objects in a shallow space, dismembering it to a number of plans. In this work, the main features of classicism were revealed: the clarity of the action, architectonicity, the harness of the composition, the opposition of groupings. The ideal of beauty in the eyes of Poussin consisted in the proportionality of parts of the whole, in the external orderliness, harmony, clarity of the composition, which will become the characteristic features of the mature wizard style. One of the peculiarities of the creative method of Pussen was rationalism, which was not only affected by the scenes, but also in the wellness of the composition. At this time, Poussin creates machine paintings mainly medium-sized, but high centenary sound,

the laid bases of classicism in European painting, poetic compositions on literary and mythological topics marked with an elevated structure of the images, the emotionality of an intensive, gently separmonized flavor "Poet inspiration", (Paris, Louvre), Parnas, 1630-1635 (Pradas, Madrid). Music in the works of the Pushsen of the 1630s, a clear compositional rhythm is perceived as a reflection of a reasonable principle, giving the greatness of the noble deeds of a person - "Salvation Moses" (Louvre, Paris), "Moses, Cleansing Water Merra," Madonna, which is St. Jacob Senior " ("Madonna on a pole") (1629, Paris, Louvre).

In 1628-1629, the painter works for the main temple of the Catholic Church - the Cathedral of St. Peter; He was ordered picture "The torments of St. Erasma » For the altar of the Cathedral Chapel with the Saint Riquaries.

In 1629-1630, Poussin creates a wonderful expression and most vital truthful " Removing from the cross "(St. Petersburg, Hermitage).

On September 1, 1630, Poussin married Anne-Marie Dughet, the sister of the French chef, who lived in Rome and taking care of Poussin during his illness.

In the period 1629-1633, the subject of Pusssen paintings is changing: he less often writes paintings on religious topics, referring to mythological and literary plots: "Narcissus and Echo" (OK 1629, Paris, Louvre), "Selena and Edimion" (Detroit, Art Institute); and cycle of paintings based on the poem Torcvatto Tasso "liberated by Jerusalem": Rinaldo and Armid , 1625-1627, (GMIA, Moscow); "Tancred and Hermine", 1630s, (State Hermitage, St. Petersburg).

Poussin was fond of the teachings of the ancient philosophers-stops called for

cook and preservation of dignity in the face of death. Reflections on death occupied an important place in his work. The thought of human strugnures and the problems of life and death formed the basis of the early picture "Arkadian shepherds" , around 1629-1630, (Assembly of the Duke of Devonshire, Chatsuit), to which he returned to the 50s (1650, Paris, Louvre). According to the plot of the paintings, the inhabitants of Arcadia, where the joy and peace reigns, discover the tombstones with the inscription: "And I am in Arkady." This death itself appeals to the heroes and destroys their serene mood, causing thinking about the inevitable future suffering. One of the women puts his hand on his neighbor's shoulder, she seems to be trying to help him reconcile with the thought of

the inevitable end. However, despite the tragic content, the artist tells about the collision of life and death calmly. The composition of the painting is simple and logical: the characters are grouped near the tombstone and are associated with the movements of the hands. The figures are written using soft and expressive lights, they resemble antique sculptures with something. In the painting of Poussin antique themes prevailed. He represented ancient Greece as an ideal-beautiful world populated by wisers and perfect

people. Even in the dramatic episodes of ancient history, he tried to see the celebration of love and higher justice. On the canvas "Sleeping Venus" (Ok. 1630, Dresden, Picture Gallery) The Goddess of Love is represented by the earthly woman, while remaining an inaccessible ideal. One of the best works on the ancient topic "The Kingdom of Flora" (1631, Dresden, Picture Gallery), written based on Ovid's poems, is striking the beauty of the picturesque embodiment of the ancient images. This is a poetic allegory of the origin of flowers, where the heroes of the ancient myths turned into flowers are depicted. In the picture, the artist gathered the characters of the epic Ovid "Metamorphosis", which after death turned into flowers (Narcissus, hyacinth and others). The dancer Flora is in the center, and the remaining figures are located in a circle, their postures and gestures are subordinate to a single rhythm - due to this, the whole composition is permeated with a circular motion. Soft to color and gentle in the mood of the landscape is written quite conditionally and more like theatrical scenery. Painting with theatrical art was

pretty artist of the XVII century - a century of the heyday of the theater. The picture reveals an important thought for the master: the heroes suffering from the rampant and rampant on earth, they found peace and joy in the magic garden of Flora, that is, a new life is revived from death, a cycle of nature. Soon, another version of this painting was written - "Triumph Flora" (1631, Paris, Louvre).

In 1632, Poussin was elected a member of the Academy of St. Luke.

For several years (1636-1642), Poussin worked on the order of the Roman scientist and a member of the Academy of Dei Linchee Cassiano Dal Pozzo, an amateur of antiquity and Christian archeology; For him, the painter drew a series of paintings about seven sacraments ( Sept sacrements). Pozzo more than others supported the French artist as a patron. Part of the paintings entered the collection of painting the dukes of Ratland.

By 1634-36 It becomes popular in France, and Cardinal Richelieu orders him several paintings for mythological topics - "Triumph Pan", "Vakha Triumph", "Triumph Neptune". These are the so-called "vakhanalia" of Poussin, in the creative solution of which the influence of Titian and Raphael is felt. Along with this, paintings appear on historical and mythological and historical and religious plots, the dramaturgy of which was built according to the laws of theatrical genre: "Worship of the Golden Taurus", "Abduction of Sabineanok", "Arcade shepherds".

In 1640, at the proposal of Richelieu, Poussin is called the "first painter of the king." The artist returns to Paris, where he receives a number of prestigious orders, including - to perform the decor of the large gallery of the Louvre (left unfinished). In Paris, Poussin faces a hostile attitude towards himself many of his colleagues, among whom was Simon VEU.

Life in Paris is strongly painted by the artist, he seeks Rome and in 1643 again rides there to never return to his homeland. The choice and interpretation of plots in the works, which he creates at this time, give out the influence of the philosophy of the stoicism and especially the Seneki.

The celebration of the ethical beginning and reason over the sense and emotions, lines, drawing and order above the painting and dynamics is predetermined by the strict regulation of the creative method to which it strictly follows. In many ways, this method has a personal character.

At the origins of the picture always there is an idea over which the author reflects for a long time in search of the most profound embodiment of the meaning. This idea is then connected to an accurate plastic solution that determines the number of characters, composition, angles, rhythm and color. It is necessary to perform sketches for the distribution of lighting, and the placement of characters, in the form of small figures made from wax or clay, in three-dimensional space, as if in the box of theatrical scene. This allows the artist to determine the spatial ratios and plans of the composition. He writes the picture itself on the canvas with a reddish, sometimes bright ground, in four stages: first performs architectural background and scenes, then places characters, carefully handles each item separately, and in the end puts the paint with thin brushes, local by tone.

Throughout his life, Poussin remained lonely. He did not have disciples in the literal sense of the word, but it was thanks to his work and his influence on contemporaries in painting develops and applies to classicism. His art becomes especially relevant at the turn of the XVIII - XIX centuries, due to the appearance neoclassicism. In the XIX and XX centuries, not only Engr and other academists, but also Delacroix, Shazerio, sulfur, Cezanne, Picasso are applied to his art.

The artist depicted himself in the corner of the workshop, against the background of the painting turned by the back side to the viewer. He is in a strict black cloak, from which the corner of a white collar is seen. In the hands, he holds a folder for sketches, bandaged with a pink ribbon. The portrait is written with uncompromising realism, emphasizing all the characteristic features of a large, ugly, but expressive and significant person. Eyes look straight on the viewer, but the artist very accurately conveyed the condition of a person immersed in his thoughts. On the left on one of the canvas is visible an antique female profile, to which two hands stretch. This allegorical image is interpreted as an image of the muse, which the Creator seeks to keep.

The new superintendent of the Royal Buildings of France Francois Syuble de Noie (1589-1645; in positions 1638-1645) surrounds itself with such experts as Paul Flear de Shanna (1609-1694) and Roland Flear de

Chambre (1606-1676), which entrusts in every way to promote the return of Nicola Poussin from Italy to Paris. For Flear de Shannlu, the artist performs the picture " Manna Heavenly ", Subsequently, (1661) will acquire a king for his collection.

After a few months, Poussin still accepted the royal proposal - "Nolens Volens", and came to Paris in December 1640. Pussen received the status of the first royal artist and, accordingly, the general leadership of the construction of royal buildings is to strong displeasure of the court painter Simon VEU.

Immediately on the return of Poussin to Paris in December 1640, Louis XIII orders Pussena a large-scale image "Eucharist" for the Altar of the Royal Chapel of the Saint-Germame Palace . At the same time, in the summer of 1641, Pussen draws frontispis for the publication "Biblia Sacra" where the God depicts the two figures: the left of a feminine angel writing in a huge foliant, with a loaf of someone invisible, and on the right - a fully veiled figure (except for the toes) with a small Egyptian sphinx in his hands.

From Francois Suble de Noe, an order is received by a picturesque image. "Miracle St. Francis Xaveria For the premises of the Noviciat of the Jesuit College. Christ in this image was cleaned by Simon VEU, who was expressed that Jesus "was more like a thunder-like Jupiter than in the merciful God."

The cold-rational normativism of Poussin caused the approval of the Versailles yard and was continued by the court artists like Charles Lebedna, who saw in classic painting an ideal artistic language for praising the absolutist state of Louis XIV. It is at this time that Poussin writes his famous picture "Genuine Scypion" (1640, Moscow, GMIA. A. S. Pushkin). The painting belongs to the mature period of the master's creativity, where the principles of classicism are clearly expressed. They are responsible for a strict clear composition and the content itself, glorifying the victory of debt over personal feeling. The plot is borrowed from the Roman historian of Tita Libya. The commander Senior Communion, Senior, famous during Rome wars with Carthage, returns to the enemy commander all the arms of his bride Lucretia, captured by a scipio during the take of the city along with military prey.

In Paris, Poussin had many orders, but he had a party of opponents, in the face of Artists of Wu, Breciera and Philip Mercier, who had previously worked on the decoration of the Louvre. Especially strongly intrigued against him, the School of Vure School of Queen.

In September 1642, Poussa leaves from Paris, removing from the intrigue of the Royal Court, with the promise to return. But the death of Cardinal Richelo (December 4, 1642) and the concentrant of Louis XIII (May 14, 1643) allowed the painter to stay in Rome forever.

In 1642, Poussin returned to Rome, to his patrons: Cardina Francesco Barberini and Academician Cassiano Dal-Pozzo, and lived there until his death. From now on, the artist works with medium-sized formats, ordered by large fans of painting - Dal-Pozzo, Shannlu, by the Poiel or Serizier.

Returning to Rome, Poussin completes the work on the order Cassiano Dal-Pozzo over the series of paintings "Seven

the sacraments ", in which revealed the deep philosophical meaning of Christian dogmas:" Landscape with the apostle Matfey "," Landscape with the Apostle John on Patmos Island "(Chicago, Institute of Arts). In 1643 he draws for Shanna " Extas Paul "(1643, Le Ravissement de Saint Paul), strongly resembling the picture of Raphael "Vision of the Prophet of Ezekiel".

The end of the 1640s - the beginning of the 1650s is one of the fruitful periods in the work of Poussin: he wrote the paintings "Eliasar and Rebekka", "Landscape with Diogen" , « Landscape with a big road » , Solomon's court, "Arcade shepherds", the second self-portrait. The topics of his paintings of this period were the virtues and validity of the rulers, biblical or antique heroes. In his canvases, he showed perfect heroes, loyal civil debt, selfless, generous, while demonstrating the absolute universal ideal of citizenship, patriotism, sincere greatness. Creating ideal images based on reality, he deliberately corrected nature, taking out beautiful and discarding the ugly.

In the last period of creativity (1650-1665), Pussen became increasingly turned to the landscape, heroes were associated

with literary, mythological plots: "Landscape with polyfem" (Moscow, GMI them. A. S. Pushkin). But their figures of mythical heroes are small and almost invisible among huge mountains, clouds and trees. The characters of antique mythology act here as a symbol of spirituality of the world. The same idea also expresses the composition of the landscape - simple, logical, ordered. Spatial plans are clearly separated in the paintings: the first plan is plain, the second is giant trees, the third - the mountains, the sky or maritime surface. The division on the plans was emphasized and color. So there was a system called later "landscape three-color": in painting the first plan, yellow and brown colors prevail, on the second - warm and green, on the third - cold, and above all blue. But the artist was convinced that the color is only a means for creating a volume and deep

spaces, he should not distract the eye of the viewer from the jewelry of the exact drawing and the harmoniously organized composition. As a result, the image of the perfect world was born, arranged according to the highest laws of the mind. Since the 1650s, Ethical and Philosophical Paphos is intensified in the work of Poussin. Turning to the plots of ancient history, liketing the biblical and gospel characters in the heroes of classical antiquity, the artist sought completeness of the figurative sound, clear harmony of the whole ( "Holidays in Egypt" , 1658, Hermitage, St. Petersburg).

The following is fundamentally important: works on the plots, hoped from mythology and literature, are connected mainly with the orientation of the Renaissance in the Venetian version (there is especially the effect of Titian), religious plots are most often taught in forms specifically inherent Baroque (sometimes young Poussin is not alien and The receptions of Caravagizism), while historical motives receive an expression in classically strict compositions, an analogy of which could be the compositions of Domenicino. With this everywhere, the corrective effect of the main line is noticeable (Rafael - antiquity); The latter is well consistent with the influence of Domenicino, which was sometimes called "Rafael Seicto".

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The idea of \u200b\u200border is imbued with all the work of the French master. Theoretical provisions put forward by a mature master objectively correspond to his artistic practice of early years and are largely a generalization.

"Things that are characterized by perfection," wrote Pussen, "it's not a hurry, but slowly, judicially and carefully." You need to use the same methods as to judge them correctly, and in order to do it well. "

What methods are we talking about? The detailed answer contains a well-known letter of Poussa dated November 24, 1647, setting "the theory of modes". The reason for an unusually long message (Poussin used to be very compressed to express his thoughts) served as a capricious letter to Shant, received by the artist shortly before. Chatel, whose jealousy was excited by the picture written by Poussa for another customer (Lyon banker of the Pantel, a close friend of the artist and a collector of his paintings), in his letter reproached Poussin, that he honors and loves him less than others. The proof of Chatel saw that the manner of paintings performed by Poussa for him, Chatel, quite different than the artist elected when performing other orders (in particular, the pointer). Poussin hurried to calm the capricious cartridge and, although his irritation was great, referred to the case with his serious seriousness. Here are the most important fragments of his letter:

"If the picture of the location of Moses in the waters of the Nile, which belongs to Mr. Ponanel, loved you,

does this indicate that I created her with more love than yours? Don't you see clear that the reason for this impression is the very character of the plot, and your location, and what the plots that I write for you should be presented in another manner? This is all skill of painting. Forgive my courage, if I say that you have shown yourself too hasty in your judgments about my works. It is very difficult to judge correctly, if you do not have great knowledge of the theory and practice of this art in their combination. Not only our taste should be a judge, but also a mind.

That is why I want to warn you about one important thing that you will allow you to understand what you need to take into account in the image of various plots in painting.

Our glorious ancient Greeks, the inventors of all beautiful, found several modes, through which they sought wonderful effects.

This word "modus" means in his own sense, the reasonable basis or measure and the shape we use, creating something, and which do not give us to go out for the well-known limits, forcing us to abide by the famous middle and moderation. This middle and moderation is nothing but a certain and solid method and order inside the process, thanks to which the thing retains its essence.

Since the modes of the ancients were a set of various elements connected together, their diversity gave rise to the difference in modes, due to which it was possible that each of them always contains something special, and mainly when the components included in the aggregate combined proportionally that Given the opportunity to cause various passions in the souls. Thanks to this, wise ancients attributed to each of his characteristic peculiarities of their impressions. "

Next is the transfer of the modes used by ancient, and the ratio of each mododu with a specific group (type) of the plots and the action inherent in the model is characterized. Thus, the Doric Modeus corresponds to the plots "important, strict and complete wisdom", Ionian - joyful, Lidian-sorry, IPOLIDA is characterized as containing "sweet softness", etc. (it should be noted that a clear misunderstanding happened to the Frigian modus: it was given to him The mutually exclusive estimates, what will be said below.) Pussen's support is the largest authorities of antiquity - Plato and Aristotle.

"Good poets," continues Poussin, "large efforts and amazing skills in order to adapt words to verses and arrange the feet in accordance with the requirement of the language. Vergili stood it everywhere in his poem, because for each of the three types of his speech, he enjoys the proper sound of the verse with such skill, which in fact it seems as if the sound of words he puts the objects of which he says; So, where he talks about love, it is clear that he masterfully picked up the words tender, elegant and highly pleasant to hearing; In the same place, where he chants a combat feat, describes the sea battle or a sea adventure, he chose the words cruel, sharp and unpleasant, so when they listen to them or pronounce, they cause horror. If I wrote a picture for you in such a manner, you would imagine that I do not like you. "

The last remark, imbued with irony, is a very accurate reaction of the mind on a bothering jealousy. After all, in essence, Chatel regards the picturesque manner as an expression of the personal attitude of the artist to the customer. For Poussin, such an assessment is unthinkable subjective and borders with ignorance. He contrasts the Independent Caprise, the objective laws of art, reasonable to mind and relying on the authority of the ancients. At the same time, it is important to take into account the identity of the methods postulated by Pussen, through which aesthetic judgment is formed and the artistic activities are subject to.

The invaluable meaning of this letter is well aware of art historians, which, however, cannot be said about aesthetics. Almost thirty years before the famous treatise, Nicola Bouoye "Poetic Art" (1674), which was always in the center of attention of researchers of aesthetics of classicism, Pussen clearly states the main contours of the classic theory.

As a carrier of a universal aesthetic measure regulating the creative process, the mind speaks here. It determines the method of correlation and, consequently, the nature of the correspondence of the idea and form in the work of art. This compliance is specified in the concept of a modus, meaning a certain order, or, if you can express it, a certain combination of fine means. The use of one or another modus is directed to the excitation of a certain affect in perceiving, that is, it is associated with the conscious impact on the viewer's psyche for bringing it into line with the spirit of the embodied idea. Thus, in the theory of Pussen, we see the inseparable functional unity of the three components, the ideas that embody its image structure and the "program" of perception.

Creative methods of Poussin turned into a hard system of the rules, and the work process on the picture is in imitation. It is not surprising that the skill of the painters of classicism began to fall, and in the second half of the XVII century there was no significant artist in France.

Some

Compositions of literary and mythological orientation ("Echo and Narcissus", Paris, Louvre; "Mars and Venus", Boston, Museum of Fine Arts; "Rinaldo and Armida", Moscow, GMI. A. S. Pushkin; "Tancred and Hermine" , St. Petersburg, Hermitage; "Sleeping Venus", Dresden, Picture Gallery; Aurora and Kefal, London, National Gallery; and others) are inscribed in horizontal formats of calm, as a rule, proportions are built on clear alternation of spatial plans; Their rhythmic organization contributes to the unification of the "distant" and "close" into a single pattern on the plane of the canvas; The light and color that allocate the main heroes of the action are organically intertwined in the rhythm of the linear pattern. The canvas of this group have special colorful wealth.

It is completely different to Pussena to the depiction of the Mukh Erasm (Rome, Vatican Pinakotek). The rectangle of the canvas strongly elongated vertically, sharply accented with the rhythm of diagonals, the energetic movement of the figures represented in strong angles - this is what primarily characterizes this composition, the relative baroque.

The intellect of the figures, the naturalism of the parts (the intestine of the martyr, wounded by the executioners on the gate) together with the realistic typing of individuals and the care of the anatomical case indicate the use of caravageism techniques by Pussen. Similar features can be found in the "beating of babies" from Charthi (Conde Museum), although this is a more classical thing in spirit. It is clearly a baroque influence "Vision of St. Jacob "(Paris, Louvre).

The appeal of Pussen to the poetry Torquato Tasso is somewhat unexpected, but still quite explained. To a certain extent, the impact of predecessors (for example, the second school of Fontainebleau, or rather Ambruza Dubua) affected here. A certain role was played, apparently, and the cultural mediation of Marino.

The question, however, is not exhausted by these circumstances. If the poetry of Tasso itself corresponds little to the spirit of Poussenovsky creativity, then much in the aesthetic program of the poet, who approved the fundamental role of Allegoria in the art of the word, was taken by Pussen and without significant reservations are common on painting. BLANT, quite fully illuminated by this question, indicates, in particular, in cases of direct borrowing by the artist of Tasso judgments 13. Thus, turning to the program product of Tasso, the famous poem "liberated by Jerusalem", Poussin entered the relative aesthetic soil.

Rinaldo and Armida

In essence, the artist went around the party that was a religious pathos of the poem, and chosen on two love stories, whose heroes were Knights Rinaldo and Tancred, the magician of the Armida and Princess Hermine. The obvious tendentiousness of this choice is associated with the tradition, in many respects determining the perception of the Poham of Tasso in a medium to which the Poussin appealed with its art and which, in turn, had an impact on his work. As R. Li, the plots, hoped by the artist from "Liberated Jerusalem", quickly gained popularity, not only because of their self-concrete charity, but also because they had a long tradition of pastoral, ascending to antique mythology and literature and cultivated art Renaissance (you can call such favorite plots as "Venus and Adonis", "Aurora and Kefal", "Diana and Endimion", etc.). There are good reason to believe that Tasso was perceived by Pussen through the prism of this tradition.

Rinaldo's love drama and armidis are covered by Pussen in all its development, most of the works (paintings and drawings) of the Tassovsky cycle are devoted to this plot.

I smelled hate to the Crusader Rinaldo, the magician of the Armid decides to destroy him. The young knight comes to the coast of Oonto, where the river, divided into two sleeves, is being streamlined, and sees the beauty pole with an inscription, which calls the traveler on a wonderful island. Careless young man, leaving his servants, sits down in the root and is recreated. Here, under the sounds of magical singing, he falls asleep and turns out to be in power of the armid. But the sorceress, captured by the beauty of the knight, is unable to carry out angry intent - the place of hatred in her heart took love. Slowing light chains from flowers, the armidom excites the sleeping rinaldo, tolerates it into his chariot and flies over the ocean, on the distant island of happiness. There, in the enchanted gardens of the Armid, where the spring always reigns, lovers enjoy life while the Messengers of the Goffredo, the leader of the Crusaders, overcoming many obstacles, do not exempt Rinaldo from love captivity. Called by a sense of duty, the knight leaves the beloved.

Consider a picture from the Assembly of the GMIA. A. S. Pushkin. Here is an episode when the armido, captives the beauty of Rinaldo, is trying to carefully lift the knight to transfer to the chariot.

The scene is inscribed in a horizontal format, according to its proportions, the static construction is most likely, rather than dynamic. However, violating the "calm" of the format, Pussen emphasizes the diagonal membership of the plane and thereby sets the scheme of the dynamic composition. It is characteristic that the "active" diagonal is chosen as the dominant direction - from the lower left corner to the right top. N. M. Tarabukin so determined the properties of this diagonal, called the "diagonal of struggle": "It does not have too rapid pace. The movement is deployed slowly because it meets the obstacles on its path that require overcoming. The total tone of the composition sounds major. "

In the picture, two groups of linear repeats are easily recorded: a group of diagonal dominant (river figure, water flow, chariot, horses, cloud, etc.) and a contrasting group of "obstacles" (tree trunk in the upper left corner, the fig Women's figures that control the chariot, etc.). Their interaction streams the whimsical configurations of the subject forms, binds the elements of different spatial plans on the canvas plane. Less expressed vertical and horizontal membership. It is characteristic that the figure of Rinaldo only in detail of its construction is included in the energetic interaction of diagonals, obeying the overall rhythm of horizontal membership and being the most "passive" of the figures.

Considering the structure of the painting "deep in", it is possible to highlight three main plan with a certain convention: the first to which the allegory of the river and the stream corresponds to the allegory; Second - Rinaldo, Armid and Amur; Third - a group with a chariot. The foreground is rhythmically likened by the third; At the same time, different directions are specified parallel diagonals: in the first plan - on the right / top left / down (water flow), on the third - on the left / bottom to the right / up (chariot movement). Further, the first-novel figure of the river god is turned back to the viewer, while the female figures of the third plan are given in turn on the viewer. The effect occurs as if the mirror image of the near and far plans in each other. The space of the picture is closed, and the average plan gets a strong accent. The compositional importance of the second plan is underlined by the profile position of the Rinaldo and Armid figures represented by VIS-A-VIS.

Color and light accents are placed in the vertices of a triangle that combines the figures of different spatial plans, and are consented to the rhythmic scheme. Revealing the "shock" positions of this scheme, light and color act as an image intonation regulators: the contrasts of red, blue and golden yellow in groups of the second and third plan sound like an exclamation of exclamations. It is characteristic that in the shock positions the color is cleared of impurities, approaching the local. Regarding the light, it is important to specifically notice that its "entry" into the picture is subordinate to the direction, contrasting dominant diagonal, is to the left / top of the right / down. In the cited work of Tarabukin, this direction is interpreted precisely as "input diagonal": "According to this diagonal, the participants of the actions are usually included in order to remain within picture space."

So, at all levels of the organization of the image, the "effect of struggle" can be traced expressing the actual struggle in which the magic metamorphosis of heroes is performed. Knight, the embodiment of militancy and power, - defenseless, his formidable weapons became a toy of a little Amur. But the sorceress that whipped and deprived the knight of protection turns out to be unarmed in the face of young beauty. The confrontation between the two forces, their struggle and enmity, turns into its opposite at the time of the third: the color solemnly sounds, the light fills the space of the image, the shining figures of the winged children appear from the forest darkness (their entry into the picture space as a whole coincides with the direction of the light flux) And with them comes, the main acting person is designed on stage - love. Her phenomenon is akin to the intervention of the Divine in the finals of the ancient tragedy (Deus Ex Machina).

Using the word "scene" in this context, we mean something more specific than it implies a generally accepted figurative expression. The alternation and features of the spatial plans in the painting of Poussin find a direct analogy in the organization of theatrical scene: the fore - advance payment, the second - the scene itself, the third is the background scenery (rear). Constructively interrelated first and third plans are compared and in semantic attitude. Both plans belong to the space "Frame" of the main action; In this sense, and only in this - you can talk about their decorative function (cf. devoid of "framing" version of the composition "Rinaldo and Armid" from the London Dalvich College). At the same time, the mythological representation of the river and the stream finds echoes in the third plan group, which is easy to relate with the image of the Helios chariot, a stable component of paintings and Pussen drawings to mythological plots. The scene from Tasso, thus acquires mythological halo.

This, however, should not just go about the scene presented in mythological "scenery", but about the displacement of the entire semantic plan, to reorient the literary plot on the mythological prototype.

As the mentioned study of Lee showed, the Moscow picture of a number of elements dates back to antique reliefs dedicated to the myth of Selena and Edimione 19. According to one of the versions of this myth, the goddess Selena shifts the wonderful endimion to kiss the sleeping young man. In this situation it is not difficult to see an analogue of the plot borrowed by Pussen from the poem of Tasso.

To theme Playing Christ Poussin also appeals at the beginning of his creative path (Munich) and in the second half of the 50s (Dublin), being a mature master. Both paintings represent the same moment from the history of the Passion of Christ, set out in the Gospel of Matthew. The secret follower of Joseph Joseph Arimafi, having received the resolution of Pontius Pilate to remove the body crucified from the cross and bury it, in a hurry to make the rite of burial before the onset of Saturday, when it was strictly forbidden to work and bury.

Comparison of both cloths characterizes the evolution of the style of the wizard from high computers and underlined dramatic effects of the Munich painting to noble simplicity, severity and restraint in late version.

In the early canvas, the body of Christ in the curved position, with the knocked head lies on his knees of Our Lady and Mary Magdalene. The artist applies sharp angles and movements to convey their grief. The pyramidal construction of the central part of the composition is completed by the figure of Joseph Arimafi, tendled over the coffin, where it is preparing to put the body of the Savior. Turning his head, he looks closely at the viewer, as if inviting him to join this scene. Next to him on the stone sarcophague sits John the Evangelist, with the pathetic expression of grief, which appealing to heaven. Two angels at the legs of Christ are sobbing, frozen in unstable poses. The head of the Savior tilters the vessels in which women brought incense to diminish the dead body. Everything is filled with internal movement, reinforced dynamics of diagonal line constructions.

It is this dynamic that is excluded from the decisions of the late picture, the composition of which is built on a clear opposition of horizontal lines and vertical accents. A clear, balanced structure, in general, inherent in the mature style of Pussen, inspires a different attitude to the viewer. Everything is ordered here - and stretched in parallel to the front edge of the canvas the body of the deceased, and the folds on the loaf, in which it is wrapped in, and the postures of all those present (unlike the first picture, the angels disappear here, but the other Maria mentioned in the Gospel appears in the Gospel), and Vessel for incense, firmly standing on the pedestal.

The kingdom of flora

In the picture, the heroes "Metamorphosis" of Ovid, who, after their death, were turned into flowers, were allegically connected. Three deities associated with the spring - Flora, Priap and Apollo, the ruling Sun quadriga.

Collected together, these characters are introduced into the contents of the picture theme Vanitas. - futility and senselessness that is filled with human pride and passion, the efforts of a person to rise above their bracnity and weakness. Young and wonderful, who have saved the love of the gods, all these heroes crash, their beauty turned into tragic consequences, and they all died. The gods loved by them, they were turned into flowers in order to rise from non-existence thus, but with all their perfection, the flowers remain the most fragile and short-lived creations.

Et in arcadia ego

The plot does not have a specific literary source. The motive of the sarcophagus in Arcadia is found in the fifth ecologic Vergil, where the poet tells about the friends of Daphnis, beautiful shepherd, the son of Hermes and the Nymph, who died from unfortunate love. They mourn his death and write epitaph on his sarcophagus.

The motive arises again in the Renaissance, in the poem "Arkady" Jacopo Sannadzaro (1502). At the same time, Arkady itself begins to be perceived as a symbol of earthly paradise, where eternal happiness reigns. The topic of Arcade shepherds becomes popular with Renaissance masters. The picture is graciously the first referring to us.

Young shepherds were accidentally discovered among the beautiful, idyllic nature stone sarcophagus, on which the skull is lying. This find forced them to stop and think deep deeply. The artist naturally definitely demonstrates all signs of tension on the dilapidated time of the skull, without embossed and not softening them. Thus, the topic of death is even stronger and more definitely sounds in the picture. Image of the skull binds her with symbolic still lifes vanitas. and memento Mori., the allegorical meanings of which are undoubtedly contained in this work.

The meaning of this moral allegory is revealed in opposition to the beauty of the surrounding world, youth, on the one hand, and death and strain - on the other. Seeing death symbols, young shepherds seem to hear her words "and I am in Arkady," who remind them that death is invisibly present everywhere.

The Louvra picture of Pussen in the genre is a moral allegory, but it is noticeably reduced by the edge pathos, compared with its first option and the picture of Grief. It is filled with melancholic intonation and philosophical meditation over the meaning of life.

In the first embodiment, Pussen's paintings are closer followed by a framed decision of framingly.

The artist depicts a group of shepherds that came up to the sarcopagu, which shows the inscription "ET in Arcadia Ego", and on top there is a skull. The shepherds stopped in front of an unexpected find and excitedly read the text. As in Grobrikino, it is the skull that plays a key role to interpret meaning, since these words are associated directly with it. As if death itself says that it is present everywhere, even here, in the beautiful Arcadia, the kingdom of youth, love and happiness. Therefore, in general, the picture is close in meaning to still lifes memento Mori., with their moral edification.

To the right of the shepherd group is a semi-naked man with amphora, which flows water. This is the personification of the river god underground altya river crossing Arkady. Here it appears as an allegorical hint of hidden from an extraneous eye Knowledge, incident like a stream.

The Louvro version interprets the topic differently, and the main difference is the absence of a skull. The refusal of the image of the skull binds the prophetic words is no longer with death, but with those whose ash is in the sarcophage. And he already calls out of non-existence, recalling how frequent youth, beauty, love is fleeting. Elegy attitude sounds in the poses that are measured without the movement of heroes, in their state of deep thoughtfulness, in a laconic and perfect composition, clean the flavor.

However, the meaning of the picture is understandable to us only in general terms. The above interpretation, for example, does not explain the change in the image of the female figure compared with the first option. If in an earlier picture of Poussin really depicts a semi-naked cowhide, the appearance of which hints on love joy among the beautiful Arcade nature, then this female image clearly has a different characteristic.

Attempts were made to give a picture of an esoteric interpretation: Poussane with the help of a classical allegory expresses Christian symbolic meanings, which, however, are available only to dedicated. In this case, the shepherds are likened to the apostles, and the female figure - Mary Magdaline, standing at the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. In addition, there is an assumption that the inscription, which, from the point of view of the Rules of the Latin language, contains an inexplicable grammatical inaccuracy - the absence of verb - in reality is an analog. There are several options for its decryption: et in arcadia ego \u003d i tego arcana dei (go, I keep the mystery of God); If you add the necessary grammatically verb SUM, then the next anagram is formed - et in Arcadia Ego Sum \u003d Tango Arcam Die Iesu (I touch the tomb of the Lord Jesus).

Poussin twice in his work appealed to this topic. The second option, which is located in the Louvre, is probably the most famous painting of the master. Her dating still remains controversial. There is a version that it is written after 1655. Special studies of the canvas showed that the execution technique is closer to the late works of Pussen. But most scientists consider the picture by the end of the 1630s.

Worship of the Golden Tales

"Worship of the Gold Talander", together with the pair to it, the picture "Transition through the Red Sea", which is now in Melbourne, were written around 1634. Both works illustrate various episodes from the Book of Exodus of the Old Testament. This is the second book of the pentateuch of Moses, telling about the outcome of the Jews from Egypt, a fantastic wandering in the desert, and finally, the acquisition of the land promised. The episode with the Golden Taurus refers to the 32 head of the outcome.

According to the text of the Old Testament (Exodus, 32), the people of Israel, concerned about the long lack of Moses, who rose on the command of Yahweh to Mount Sinai, asked Aaron to make God, who would lead them instead of the past Moses. Aaron gathered all the gold and made the calf from him, who "brought all the offensions and led the victims of peaceful."

"And the Lord said to Moses: Hurry to get away from here, for the people of yours brought himself, which you brought from the Egyptian land; They soon danced from the path that I commanded them ... ".

The history of the Golden Taurus becomes a symbol of faithfulness, renunciation from the true God and worship an idol. It is this meaning that emphasizes Poussin, leaving Moses in the background that broke up, and focusing the attention of the viewer at the unrestrained dance, on the triumphant gesture of Aaron and thanks to him the people.

Parnassus

One of the most difficult issues to understand this work remains the problem of identifying the poet, which has joined Parnass and Hands of Apollon. Erwin Panofsky suggested that this is an Italian poet Janbattist Marino, a friend and patron of the artist. Marino died in 1625, but contemporaries considered him equal to the great antique authors. In the painting of Poussin, the highest assessment of his talent is expressed, it is not by chance that it is the only one of the mortals introduced into the circle of Apollo and Muses. Two works of Marino - "Adonis" and "Beating babies", with whom, probably, is also impressed here.

In general, the painting of Poussin is not only an illustration of the myth about Parnassa, Apollo and Muses, as it often happens in the works of other artists on this topic. This myth is correlated by the master with the realities of the cultural history and becomes a means to build a certain value hierarchy in it.

The image of God Apollo, as the symbol of the divine, pure poetic inspiration, creativity having a divine source, occupies an important place in Pussen's painting. This is connected with the highest role that the artist gives the creative beginning, arts, in culture and in a person's life.

One of his early appeals to this image is its picturesque embodiment of the myth about Apollo and Daphne. The literary source of this painting, which Poussin writes in 1625, is also "metamorphosis" of Ovid (I, 438-550). Ovid tells about the revenge of Cupid Apollon, who, proud of his victory over the Pyfhon, began to joke over the young God, seeing his armed onions and arrows. Apollo said that the boys weapons were not to wear, and Cupid should be content only to a torch, burning love, feeling, alien to Almighty Apollon.

Then the Cupid sent an arrow on Apollo, inciting love and he praised the passion for Nymph Daphne, the daughter of the river god Penya and Gay. Daphne the god of love wounded the arrow, the love of killing and she gave any vow of celibacy, like Diana. In vain Apollo, for the first time experiencing such feelings, sought the love of Daphne. Fishing from his persecution, Daphne turned with a prayer to his father, and was turned into a laurel.

The episode when Apollo almost overtakes Daphne, but she turns into a laurel tree in his eyes, became a favorite for European artists, sculptors, poets, musicians. It is him depicting and Pussen in his picture. Next to Apollo and Daphne, with the urn, from which water pours, depicts the river God of Peniers. The laurel tree since then becomes the emblem of Apollo, he always carries a laurel wreath on his head. It is believed that the laurel has a cleansing and prophetic force, is a symbol of victory and peace. The laurel wreath was crowned with the head of the winner in the poetic contest.

Pattern of Poussin is closely connected with the frescoes of Rafael in the station Della Senagatura and allows you to judge how the style of the French master was formed under the influence of the Great Italian.

Picture dating still remains controversial. Most researchers refer it to the beginning of the 1630s, justifying it by the similarity between Apollon's figure and the image of the crocus in the Kingdom of Flora.

Death of Germany

"Death of Germany" (Minneapolis, Institute of Arts) is built like an antique bas-relief. The movement of the group of warriors is very clearly organized, from left to right to the dying commander of the dying commander, their restrained gesticulation is subordinate to the false rhythm. The profile image of most shapes is characterized. As if the verticals of the high interior are drawn. Antique Rome resurrect in the composition of Pussen.

The picture was ordered by Cardinal Francesco Barberini in 1626 and finished in 1628. Bellori testifies that the artist had the right to choose the plot on his own. English artist Henry Fusley in 1798 noted that no other work of Poussin did not cause such universal admiration, and even if the author would not create any other picture, he would have gained immortality thanks to this.

This is the best work created by Pussen in his early Roman years, and one of the most original in all his work. Epic on the topic and classic in drawing, it introduces a new plot to Western European art - the image of the hero on the mortal apparent. The picture had a huge influence on the neoclassicism of the late XVIII - the first half of the XIX centuries. It lays the beginning of a neoclassical commitment to the scenes of heroic death. British Masters B. West and G. Hamilton are created about the history of Germany and G. Hamilton, he was inspired by J. Reynolds. Many copies on it were created by outstanding French artists, David, Zherik, Delacroix, Moro.

A number of sculptors also borrowed the composition of this work, obviously feeling her antique roots.

Before Poussin, none of the artists did not add to this image. The source was "Annala" of Tacitus (II, 71-2), where the Roman General of Germany (15 BC - 19 AD) is described. He was a nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, married to the granddaughter of Augustus Agrippine. Their son is the future emperor Caligula, and grandson is Nero.

Germany has gained great fame and authority in the army, thanks to his victories over German tribes, courage, courage and modesty, dividing with their soldiers all the vigorods of war. Tiberius, having envying his glory, ordered secretly to poison him.

Despite the flavor, demonstrating the acquaintance of Poussin with the works of Titian, the composition of the picture goes back to the classic antiquity patterns. It is felt both in the fruitless construction of figures in the foreground and in the organizing role of architecture. Perhaps this solution is inspired by antique sarcophagi, depicting the death of the hero - the topic that often appears in the plastic of sarcophagus. Some researchers noted that a closer example of Rubens from the "Death of Emperor Konstantin" series could be more close example for such a composite solution, Dovned by Cardinal Francesco Barberini King Louis XIII in September 1625

The plot of the paintings as Exemplum Virtutis, in addition, becomes a model for imitating in the art of neoclassicism, may be connected with other, later works of Poussin itself. However, there are unexplained considerations for which in 1627 the choice of Poussin fell on him. One of the assumptions is that Tacitus describes his hero as a person deprived of envy and cruelty, in whose behavior there is a huge self-control, he is faithful to his debt, his friends, his family, and unusually modest in life. That was the ideal of Poussin himself, and this description is close to his own nature during maturity years.

In contact with

The greatest French artist of the XVII century Nikola Poussin said that the perception of the artwork requires a focused thinking and tense work of thought. "My nature," he noted, "he entails me to look and love things perfectly organized, avoiding messy, which I also fight as the darkness of the light." In these words, the aesthetic principles of classicism, which Pussen not only followed, but also in painting their creator. Classicism is an artistic direction and style in the literature and plastic arts of France XVII century - relied on the ancient and Renaissance heritage and reflected the ideas of public debt, reason, sublime heroism and flawless morality. Creative practice turned out to be much wider by the regulations of the doctrine. The works of Pussen are rich in the deep thought, first of all conquer the vital completeness of images. He was attracted by the beauty of human feelings, reflections on the fate of man, the theme of poetic creativity. Of particular importance for the philosophical and artistic concept of Poussin had the theme of nature as the highest incarnation of reasonable and natural harmony.

Nikola Poussin was born near the Normal town of Ansel if. A young man, after several years of wanderings and short work in Paris, he settled in Rome, where he lived his whole life. Once he had to return to Louis XIII at the insistence of Louis XIII to France, but his views and work did not meet any support, nor understanding, and the atmosphere of court life itself caused a squeamish disgust.

The search for Poussin passed a difficult path. Already in one of the early paintings "Death of Germany" (1626-1628, Minneapolis, the Institute of Arts), he appeals to the receptions of classicism and anticipate many of their later work in the field of historical painting. Germanic - a courageous and valiant commander, Nadezhda Romans - was poisoned by order of the suspicious and envious Emperor Tiberius. The picture depicts Germany on the mortal appointment of his family and faithful warriors. But not a personal grief, but a civilian pathos - the ministry of the Motherland and Dolga - constitutes the figurative meaning of this canvase. Roman's outgoing from life takes an oath of loyalty and vengeance from Roman legionnaires, harsh, strong and complete advantages of people. All actors are located like relief.

Having entered the path of classicism, Poussin sometimes went beyond his borders. His paintings of the 1620s "Beating babies" (Shannty, Museum of Conde) and "Martyrdom of St. Erasm" (1628-1629, Vatican, Pinakotek) are close to Caravagizism and Baroque exaggeratedly dramatic interpretation of the situation and images devoid of ideality. Mimic's tension and movement rapidness distinguishes expressive "removal from the Cross" in the Hermitage (OK. 1630) and "mourning" in the Munich Pinakotek (approx. 1627). At the same time, the construction of both paintings in which plastically tangible figures are included in the overall rhythm of the composition, flawlessly. The color scheme is subordinate to the thoughtful ratio of colorful spots. In the Munich canvas, various shades of gray, with which blue-blue and bright red tones are sophisticated.

Poussin rarely depicted the sufferings of Christ. The main array of its works is associated with biblical, mythological and literary plots. The antique theme of his early works, which affected the passion for the colors of Titian, approves the bright joy of life. The figures of dark satiri, charming nymph, merry amurists are full of that soft and smooth movement that the master called the "body language." Picture "Kingdom of Flora" (1631, Dresden, Picture Gallery), inspired by Metamorphosis of Ovid, depicts the heroes of the ancient myths, who, after their death, gave life to various colors, who decide the bullish kingdom of the Goddess Flora. The death of Ajax, rushes on the sword, the doomedness of deadly adonis and hyacinth, the suffering of lovers of Smiles and Crocon do not darken the reigning junctive mood. The blood flowing from the head of the hyacinth turns into fallen petals of wonderful blue flowers, a red carnation grows out of the blood of Ajax, Narcissus admires to reflect in a vase with water, which is holding a nymph echo. Like a colorful living wreath. Painting characters surround a dancing goddess. Poussna canvas embodies the thought of the immortality of nature, which gives life an eternal update. This life is carried by the heroes laughing goddess Flora, sprinkling them with white flowers, and the radiant light of God Helios, which makes his fiery run in golden clouds.

The dramatic principle, which is included in the works of Poussa, gives it images a sublime character. The Hermitage Pancourse (1630s) is dedicated to the love of the Antiochian princess, Amazon Herminia to the Knightry-Crusader Tancred. The plot is taken from the poem of Tasso liberated by Jerusalem. The Tancreda's wounded in the duel supports his faithful Vafrine friend. Hermine, who had just been moving from the horse, rushes towards the beloved and sparkling sword with a span of his blond hair to tie his wounds. Ermini's love is likened by a heroic feat. The painting is built on a favorite artist of the contrast of blue, red and orange yellow. The landscape will flood with the flaming gloss of evening dawn. Here everything is proportionally, it is easy to read at first glance and everything is much. The language of strict, pure balanced forms is dominated, and the linear and color rhythm is perfect.

Throughout the creativity of Poussin passes the theme of life and death. In the kingdom of flora, she acquired the character of the poetic allegoria, in the "death of Germany" was associated with ethical, heroic issues. In the pictures of the 1640s and later, this topic was saturated with a philosophical depth. The myth of Arcadia, a country of serene happiness, often embodied in art. But Poussin expressed in this idyllic plot the idea of \u200b\u200bthe frequency of life and the inevitability of death. The artist depicted shepherds, unexpectedly discovered a tomb with the inscription "And I was in Arcadia ..." - a reminder of the short-life of life, about the upcoming end. In an early version (1628-1629, Chatsworth, the meeting of the Dukes of Devonshire), more emotional, complete movement and drama, is strongly expressed by the confusion of young shepherds, who seemed to be in the face of death, who invaded their bright world.

The plot of the Louis painting "Poet Triumph" (Paris, Louvre) seems to be bordered by Allegoria - Crouching the Lavir Wreath of the Young Poet in the presence of God Apollo and Callopa, the music of epic poetry. The idea of \u200b\u200bthe picture is the birth of beautiful in art, his celebration is perceived brightly and figuratively, without the slightest formation. Images are united by a common system of feelings. Muse, standing next to Apollo - a living personification of the beautiful. Composite construction of the painting, with its external simplicity, in its kind, exemplary for classicism. Substonely found offsets, turns, the movements of the figures, moved towards the tree, flying Amur - all these techniques, not depriving the composition of clarity and equilibrium, make a sense of life into it. The picture is saturated with yellow-golden, blue and red paints, which gives it a special solemnity.

The image of nature as the personification of the highest harmony of Being passes through all the creativity of Poussin. Strolling in the vicinity of Rome, he studied the landscapes of Roman campaigns inherent in invisibility. His lively impressions were transferred in wonderful landscape drawings from nature, full freshness of perception and fine lyrics. Picturesque landscapes of Poussin are deprived of this sense of immediance, the perfect start is stronger in them. Pussenian landscapes are imbued with the feeling of the grandeur and greatness of the world. The bulky rocks, lush trees, crystal-clean lakes, cool springs, current among the stones and shady bushes, are connected in a plasticity of a whole, a holistic composition based on the alternation of spatial plans, each of which is located in parallel to the canvas plane. The restrained color coloramic gamma is usually built on a combination of cold blue and bluish tones of heaven, water and warm brownish tones of soil and rocks.

"Landscape with a polyfem" (1649, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage) is perceived as a solemn anthem nature. Cyclops Polyfem, as if growing out of gray rocks, playing the Song of Love Nimifer Galatee. The sounds of the melodies are hit by the warm southern sea, mighty mountains, shady groves and their deities, nymphs and satires, Plower for a plow and a shepherd among herd. The impression of the infinity of the space is amplified by the fact that the polyfem depicted with his back to the viewer looks into the distance. All falls on a wonderful dark blue sky with light white clouds.

Mighty greatness of nature conquers in the "landscape with Hercules and Cukus" (1649, Moscow, State Museum of Fine Arts. A.S. Pushkin), where the victory of Hercules above the giant cake is captured. Although the hero was performed, nothing violates the painted and strict peace.

Depicting John the Bogoslov on the island of Patmos, Pussen refuses the traditional interpretation of this image. It creates a rare beauty and mood landscape - the living personification of the beautiful eldla. In the interpretation of Poussin, the image of John reminds not a Christian hermit, but a true thinker.

The famous landscape cycle four years of year is made by the artist in recent years of life (1660-1664, Paris, Louvre). Each landscape has a symbolic meaning. "Spring" (in this landscape, Adam and Eve are depicted in paradise) is the bloom of the world, the childhood of mankind. "Summer", where the scene of the harvest is presented, the time of hot labor, personifies the thought of maturity and the completeness of being. Winter depicts a flood, the death of life. Water that fluttering to the ground inexorably absorbs all living things. Nowhere is no salvation. Lightning outbreaks cut through the night darkness, and the nature covered by despair appears to be acknowledged and fixed. The tragic "winter" is the last work of the artist.

Alien careerism and external success, Poussin lived worthy, noble life. In the memory of generations, the art of the artist remained and inextricably merged with him the image in the late "self-portrait" created by him (1650, Paris, Louvre). Time was skilled the dark hair of an aging master, but did not deprive the hardness of the posture, the chased and courageous rigor gave a large feature of the face, an insightful look view, strengthened the feeling of wise self-catering and calm dignity. The transfer of individual resemblance does not prevent the creation of a deeply generic image. The artist for Poussin is primarily a thinker, he sees the value of a person in the strength of his intellect, in creative power. The value of the property of Pussena for its time and the following epochs is enormous. His true heirs were not French academists of the second half of the XVII century, distorted traditions of the Great Master, and representatives of the revolutionary neoclassicism of the XVIII century, who managed in the forms of this art to express new ideas of their era.

Tatyana Capteeva