sacraments and poussin as an artist

8/11/2019 Sacraments and Poussin as an Artist

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Compare Poussins 2 versions of the

Eucharist in his series of the Seven

Sacraments in terms of the differingidentities of their patrons.

Before analysing Poussins two versions of the Eucharistwe have to understand at what stage in his

artistic career he was in, and the context of sacramental paintings in the 17th

century. We need to

understand Poussins passion in antiquity and views on religion within his stoic philosophical

mindset. Thus we can begin to examine his relationship with his two patrons, Cassiano dal Pozzo and

Paul Frart de Chantelou and discuss how the two versions of the Sacrament of the Eucharistreflect

the differing identities of their commissionersone the intellectual Italian, interested in a fusion of

antique and Christian themes, the other the wealthy French bourgeois, less pious and more private.

The idea of a series of paintings was common enough in the 17th

century, but the sacraments

themselves had up until then always been painted together as scenes of contemporary life.1During

the 16th

century Reformation the church was made defend the validity of its Sacraments,

deemphasising the significance of the Last Supper in the sacrament of Eucharist, and focusing

instead on the consecration of the bread of giving communion to the Apostles, as seen in Poussins

Eucharist(1640; Musee du Louvre, Paris). Thus, Poussins idea of a series of seven separate paintings

of the Sacramentswas part of his virtue of inventio, the ability to express a story in an imaginative

and original way.2In both sets he has gone against the norm and chosen to depict the Eucharist in its

narrative and historical context, concentrating not on saints and martyrs, but on the central

narrative themes of the New Testament3. Thus, we see the apostles lying at the table all antica.

4

The focus is more on the dramatic sacramental climax of the last supper, with his gestures declaring

the bread and wine becoming his flesh and blood.5

Poussins passion in antiquity is revealed in differing ways for each of his Eucharists. By using primary

evidence through the inclusion of classical architectural features, such as the formal Roman dining

Triclinium, as well as clothing in a Roman style, Poussin quotes antique images.6However, he also

deals with the underlying philosophical conceptions of the Biblical narrative, emphasising the

moments when Christ blesses the cup, when the disciples break the bread, when Judas leaves the

1Thompson, C. (1980) Poussins Seven Sacraments in Edinburgh. University of Glasgow Press: p. 7

2Ibid, p. 7

3Blunt, A. (1995) Nicolas Poussin. Pallas Athene Publishing: p. 179

4Friedlaender, W. (1966) Poussin: a New Approach. Thames and Hudson: p. 156

5Ibid, p. 7

6Blunt, A. (1995): p. 189


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room ashamed of his future betrayal, and in Chantelous version references to Christs washing of

the apostles feet, all convey the personal systems the artist was dealing with through his patrons.7

Poussins paintings were also inspired largely by the stoical philosophers, such as Torquato Tasso,

whose ideas of the mind creating fantastic new ideas based upon intellect, memory, and experience8

heavily inspired Poussins passionate belief in reason as the source of allbeauty and truth.9This

admiration for intellectual rigour and enquiry led to Poussin founding the classical tradition in French

Art.10

However, despite Poussins moral stoicism, the solemnity and grandeur of his religious

paintings for Chantelou and dal Pozzo show his sincerity of his religious beliefs.11

Thus, we can examine Cassiano dal Pozzos Eucharist, of the set of Seven Sacraments painted

between 1636-1642 in terms of its religious Christian narrative themes through his relationship with

the religious circles based around Cardinal Francesco Barberini, and its antiquarian themes through

the his interest in the antiques and the work of the Carracci school. Dal Pozzos patronage of Poussin

at the time he commissioned the Seven Sacramentshas already existed for over a decade since

Poussins arrival in Rome in 1624.12The severe and stoic manner of Poussin in his maturity suited

him to the intellectual circle of dal Pozzo13

, whose scientific and philosophical interests were finely

tuned to the intellectual, ethical, and political debates of seicentoRome14

and based on the

teachings of the Carracci schools reforming of the Mannerist style, setting u p the following Baroque

period.15

Cropper argues that Poussin was working with dal Pozzo in the central intellectual problem

of the 17th

creconciling the authority of the Christian church and the traditions of the classical

period, with new discoveries and creative ideas in the sciences, theology, and the arts.16

7Carrier, D. (1993) Poussins Paintings: a study in art-historical methodology. Pennsylvania State

University Press: p. 61

8Callen-Bell, J. (2002)Art history in the age of Bellori: scholarship and cultural politics in seventeenth-

century Rome. Cambridge University Press: p. 42

9Blunt, A. (1995): p. 219

10Clarke, M. (2011) Poussin to Seurat: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Scotland.

National Galleries of Scotland: p. 108

11Blunt, A. (1995): p. 177

12Wright, C. (1984) Poussin Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonn. Alpine Fine Arts: p. 68

13Kauffman, G., Friedlaender, W., and Sauerlnder (eds.) (1965) Walter Friedlaender zum 90.

Geburtstag: eine Festgabe seiner europischen Schler, Freunde und Verehrer. De Gruyter: p. 59

14Olson, T.P. (2002) Poussin and France: Painting, Humanism, and the Politics of Style. Yale

University Press: p. 15

15Callen-Bell (2002): p. 43

16Ibid, p. 43


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To show the Eucharistin its historic origin provided a vehicle for the representation of the ancient

world, an enthusiasm that Poussin shared with dal Pozzo.17

Dal Pozzos master, Cardinal Francesco

Barberini, was the titular abbot of the Abbey of Santa Maria di Grottaferrata, a place of great

interest in the classical world with its terrifically important library of Greek Manuscripts and alumni

of Humanists, such as Ambrogio Traversari.18

This was combined with dal Pozzos own personal

interest and knowledge of classical mythology and history, with his collections of classical antiques.19

We can see aspects of the picture are treated as a stage, with what appears to the viewer to be the

removal of the fourth wall as the sparse floor at the bottom edge of the pai nting seems like a

theatre set.20

We can see the influences of the Carracci school in Poussinsuse of chiaroscuro,

symmetry and use of colour and line, which seem to be an amalgamation of Raphael, Correggio, and

Michelangelo, which can be partly attributed to his use of wax models arranged on a theatrical stage

in order to see the natural effects of light and shade, revealing how these affect the activity of the

narrative.21

We can see the evidence of the emphasis Poussin put in dal Pozzos Euchariston the emotions of the

Christian narrative of the work, which fitted into the religious temper of his circle around Cardinal

Barberini. The sacraments were an essential part of the writings of the early Christian apologists

trying to remove themselves from the ecstatic Catholicism expressed in Roman Baroque art22

, with

whom Cardinal Barberini was in sympathy.23

The interior height imposes a sense of the ritual and

solemnity of the Church.24

The pictures exhibition, intended to hang together either in a long

sequence in a narrow hallway or confined in a relatively small room25

, would have added to this

cloistering effect.

We can likewise examine Poussins second set of sacraments for the Parisian Paul Frart de

Chantelou, painted in Rome between 1644-48, in terms of Poussins personal friendship and the

wider context of the 17th

rise of French Humanitarianism. Hearing so much about dal Pozzos series

of Sacraments, Chantelou wanted copies of them, and after initially meeting with some difficulties

and delays Poussin agreed to paint him a completely new version.26

Chantelou and the rest of

Poussins French supporters belonged to the bourgeois, a wealthy class with clearly defined ideals

(Carrier, 1993, 81).27

Although clearly not as intellectual as dal Pozzo, Poussin still held deep affection for Chantelou, and

in their long series of letters the two companions wrote often about the progress of the Sacraments.

These were shipped across the Alps one by one as they were finished to Chantelous collection in his

house near the Louvre in Paris, where a separate room was set aside for them.28

Chantelou is

17Thompson (1980): p. 7

18Kauffman, et al (1965): p. 61

19Blunt, A. (1995): p. 207

20Thompson (1980): p. 12

21Callen-Bell (2002): p. 220

22Blunt, A. (1995): p. 187

23Heering, J.P. (2004) Hugo Grotius as Apologist for the Christian Religion. Brill: p. 201

24Thompson (1980): p. 24

25Wright (1984): p. 68

26

Thompson (1980): p. 627Carrier (1993): p. 81

28Thompson (1980): p. 4


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recorded to have covered the Sacramentswith curtains, leaving only one visible at a time, under a

mutual understanding with Poussin who agreed that seeing them all together would fill the mind

too much all at once.29

Thus, the whole concept of the paintings implied a certain kind of answering

space in which it is hung, the confined and exclusive cabinet d'amateur, and a certain kind of person

looking at it, the privileged guests of Chantelou, men of culture and learningit was in this nature

that Poussin used his expressions, conveyed his ideas, and diminished the size of his figures.30

This

environment required a formula that would not distract people from the tranquillity of the setting.

Poussin sought to create a distance between the figures of the Eucharistand the people who looked

at them. Any face presented with too much realism would have been far too distracting, whereas

enhancing the physical signs of emotional response was his goal.31

Thus, Poussin took inspiration

from theatre and the classical world, painting the figures faces as actors wearing antique masks with

an emphasis of painting the rim of the lower eyelid a distinct reddish colour to represent the edge of

the mask.32

Further changes from the first series increase the solemnity of the experience: the

architectural height of the Tricliniumis much reduced in proportion to the figures, increasing the

sense of gravity on observance33

, enhanced by the deeper shadows and changing light makes thefigures move closer into the light, enabling Poussin to give far more individual expression to each

participant in the scene.34

It was only by transforming his picture in this way that he prevented

Chantelous version of the Eucharistfrom being perceived by his friend as merely a quotation of dal

Pozzos.

This second series has a solidly French temperament, an excess of Humanist logic, and almost

doctrinaire consistency, sacrificing a sense of informality and lightness of touch which had been

present in the first.35

His piety was certainly less intense than dal Pozzos, as during Berninis visit to

Paris Chantelou rarely accompanied him to the churches, and made unfriendly comments about the

ostentatious wealth of the Church36

, thus sharing the views of the humanist libertinson the religiousorders. Poussins French audience were, unlike the intellectual debates of seicentoRome, more

engaged in the formation of the early modern state.37

This may be precisely why Chantelou chose

Poussin to paint his series. By working from Rome after his failed return to Paris in 1640-2, the

expatriate artist was free from these constraints of state ambitions and respond to the personal

demands of his friend.38

However, in this process of state formation in the 17th

century High

Renaissance in France, the importance of mankind in general was stressed, not the emphasis of

distinct personalities of separate individuals.39

This is seen in the Eucharist, where Poussin explores

the unity of the narrative scene, whilst pursuing his personal intention of exploring the idea of

individual temperaments and responses of the apostles.

29Ibid, p. 4

30Ibid, p. 15

31Ibid,p. 24

32Ibid, p. 19

33Ibid, p. 25

34Carrier (1993): p. 219

35Thompson (1980): p. 25

36Blunt (1995): p. 216

37

Olson (2002): p. 1538Ibid, p. 72

39Thompson (1980): p. 8


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From studying the above, one can see how Poussin treated each of his versions of the Sacrament of

the Eucharistdifferently to suit the tastes of the differing identities of his clients. For dal Pozzo,

within his religious and intellectual circles, Poussins restrained touch and papal solemnity is seen,

whereas for Chantelou Poussin felt free outside of the rigours of Humanist France to paint a

heartfelt and tranquil piece, suiting the function of Chantelous collection room all the more.


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Bibliography

Blunt, A. (1995) Nicolas Poussin. Pallas Athene Publishing

Callen-Bell, J. (2002)Art history in the age of Bellori: scholarship and cultural politics in seventeenth-

century Rome. Cambridge University Press

Carrier, D. (1993) Poussins Paintings: a study in art-historical methodology. Pennsylvania State

University Press

Clarke, M. (2011) Poussin to Seurat: French Drawings from the National Gallery of Scotland. National

Galleries of Scotland

Clarke, M. (2000)A Companion Guide to the National Gallery of Scotland. National Galleries of

Scotland

Friedlaender, W. (1966) Poussin: a New Approach. London, Thames and Hudson

Heering, J.P. (2004) Hugo Grotius as Apologist for the Christian Religion. Brill

Kauffman, G., Friedlaender, W., and Sauerlnder (eds.) (1965) Walter Friedlaender zum 90.

Geburtstag: eine Festgabe seiner europischen Schler, Freunde und Verehrer. Berlin, De

Gruyter.

Olson, T.P. (2002) Poussin and France: Painting, Humanism, and the Politics of Style. Yale University

Press

Thompson, C. (1980) Poussins Seven Sacraments in Edinburgh. University of Glasgow Press.

Wohl, A.S. (2009) Giovan Pietro Bellori: The Lives of the Modern Painters, Sculptors and Architects.

Cambridge University Press

Wright, C. (1984) Poussin Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonn. Alpine Fine Arts, New York

sacraments and poussin as an artist

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