National Galleries of Scotland

Poussin represented this Sacrament of final blessing with the moving scene of a dying Christian Roman soldier anointed with holy oil by a priest. The figure group resembles a classical relief sculpture in its horizontal emphasis, while the room's central perspective provides a stage like setting. Poussin did use a model stage with wax figures to plan some of his compositions and to study the play of light and shadow. Here candle light complements the intense emotion of the scene. It was one of the first paintings completed in the artist's second series of Seven Sacraments (1644-1648) created for Paul Freart de Chantelou.