Nicolas Poussin
The Sacrament of Penance
1647"One of the greatest single rooms in any gallery anywhere in the world is that blue-walled octagon containing Poussin's extraordinary, shattering, poised canvasses, all seven of them creating an archetypal journey through the various stages of an individual's life in the great tradition of Christian-inspired religious painting. It's hard to know which of these baroque masterpieces, each a virtuosic study of luminescence in its own right, is preferable to the other. I for one cannot choose between the Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction."
Jonathan Mills, director of the Edinburgh International Festival
"These seven paintings are contained in a small room - a veritable treasure trove. In that room I discovered an understanding of the sacramental life inherent in Christianity, and, at the same time, I derived a clearer understanding of the laws of composition, tonality, colour and the application of oil paint to a surface. It was in that room that I discovered I had a vocation to devote my life to the history of ideas expressed by artists of the stature of Poussin."
Richard Demarco, artist/archivist
- Glossary (1 term)
- Open
Commission
When an individual or organisation employs an artist to execute a particular project, the process and the resulting work are termed a `commission?.
- Glossary (3 terms)
- Open
Classicism
A general term for art and architecture based on ancient Greek and Roman culture.
Composition
The arrangement of different elements in a work of art.
Patronage
The support given to artists by an individual or organisation, usually through buying or funding their work.
- Credits Edinburgh, National Gallery of Scotland (Bridgewater Loan, 1945)
- Medium Oil on canvas
- Size 117.00 x 178.00 cm (151.00 x 212.00 x 11.40 cm)
