Illustrated biography; or, Memoirs of the great and the good of all nations and all times; comprising sketches of eminent statesmen, philosophers, heroes, artists, reformers, philanthropists, mechanics, navigators, authors, poets, divines, soldiers, savans, etc . engaged, and immediately travelled to Italy. Sandrart says that Poussin began his studies at Rome in 1622, in the twen-ty-eighth year of his age ; and other very authentic writers affirm that hisarrival in Rome was in 1624, when he was thirty. But in that city he had •* * many difficulties to contend with, by the death of his principa
Illustrated biography; or, Memoirs of the great and the good of all nations and all times; comprising sketches of eminent statesmen, philosophers, heroes, artists, reformers, philanthropists, mechanics, navigators, authors, poets, divines, soldiers, savans, etc . engaged, and immediately travelled to Italy. Sandrart says that Poussin began his studies at Rome in 1622, in the twen-ty-eighth year of his age ; and other very authentic writers affirm that hisarrival in Rome was in 1624, when he was thirty. But in that city he had •* * many difficulties to contend with, by the death of his principal friend the cava-lier Marino. He applied himself, however, with redoubled industry to hisstudies, and copied several of the works of Titian, which for a time improvedhis style of coloring; and also attentively observed the excellences of Raphaeland Domenichino, from whose works, assisted by his love for the antique, heimbibed that correct taste of design and that truth of expression which animateand adorn all his compositions. He indeed devoted almost his whole attentionto the antique statues and bas-reliefs, which appeared to him more worthy ofcurious and critical observation than the finest efforts of modern genius in paint- 12 178 NICHOLAS Nicholas Poussin. ing; for he seemed persuaded that every grace and beauty of the human formwas comprised in those ancient sculptures, which have justly been the admi-ration of the judicious in all subsequent ages. The first subjects painted by Poussin were bacchanalians, satyrs, and nymphs,which he introduced in his landscapes, the stories being principally taken fromOvid ; and he enriched his scenes with elegant buildings, which he design ecafter those magnificent edifices which are in Rome and its environs. But afterward his subjects were sometimes taken from the sacred history, and oftene»from the Greek and Roman—in which he always observed the costume strictly,with an equal degree of judgment and learning. As he had be
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1850, booksubjectbiography, bookyear18
