''Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice'' is a 124 × 200 cm (approx 4 × 6.5 feet) oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a ...
, painted between 1650 and 1653. It depicts a mythological subject in the
classical style and is in the collection of the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
History
Nicolas Poussin painted this work for his longtime friend and patron Jean Pointel, who was a rich banker in Paris. Pointel also was a member of the libertines, a circle which Poussin himself frequented. It was in Pointel's collection, which had many works by Poussin, but was stored away after the political climate in Paris changed. In its place Poussin`s landscape with snake and dying man, was hung in Pointel`s private collection.
Poussin places the story of
Orpheus
Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jaso ...
in the Campagna Romana (Roman countryside): the
Castel Sant'Angelo
The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...
and the
Torre delle Milizie
The Torre delle Milizie ("Tower of the Militia") is a fortified tower in Rome, Italy, located between Trajan's Market in the Imperial fora to the southwest and the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, or Angelicum, to the east.
Histor ...
("Tower of the Militia") figure in this painting, borrowed from the landscape of the
Eternal City. Dense smoke pours from a fire which devastates the Castle, and darkens a sky already overcast with sombre clouds. The fall of the light divides the landscape diagonally into bright and dark areas – a division clearly seen on the Torre delle Milizie.
Many of Poussin's pictures have darkened, mainly as a result of a red underpainting which has begun to show through the colours. The ''Orpheus'', however, is free of this: it has kept its original transparency even in the darker passages, and the whole painting is in a particularly fine state of preservation.
This work by Poussin remains cryptic and there are various opinions about possible ways to decipher it.
See also
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List of paintings by Nicolas Poussin
This page is a list of paintings by Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys, Andelys, 15 June 1594 – Rome, 19 November 1665). The attributions vary notably from one art historian to another. Jacques Thuillier, one of the most restrictive, produced a list ...
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Baroque painting
Baroque painting is the painting associated with the Baroque cultural movement. The movement is often identified with Absolutism, the Counter Reformation and Catholic Revival,[Et in Arcadia ego
''Et in Arcadia ego'' (also known as ''Les bergers d'Arcadie'' or ''The Arcadian Shepherds'') is a 1637–38 painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style. It depicts a pastoral scene with id ...]
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History of painting
The history of painting reaches back in time to artifacts and artwork created by pre-historic artists, and spans all cultures. It represents a continuous, though periodically disrupted, tradition from Antiquity. Across cultures, continents, and ...
*
Western painting
Notes
References
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* F. Negri Arnoldi, ''Storia dell'Arte'', Fabbri Group (1990), Vol.III,
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* , Chapter 3. Poussin's hands and Titian's eyes
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External links
''Orphée et Eurydice'' at the Louvre
''Orphée et Eurydice'' by Poussin on website ''delapeinture.com''
Nicolas Poussin Biography, Style and ArtworksPoussin and Nature: Arcadian Visionsat th
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York92 works by Nicolas Poussin*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice
Mythological paintings by Nicolas Poussin
1650s paintings
Paintings in the Louvre by French artists
Landscape paintings
Paintings of Greek myths