Publication coincides with the 400th anniversary of the artist's birth and a forthcoming exhibition

By investigating the important cultural figures who were close to the painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665), Elizabeth Cropper and Charles Dempsey allow the reader to enter not only the Rome where he lived but also the Rome of antiquity, which he admired and tried to reconstruct. The authors argue that Poussin's works were structured by his friendships, as well as by his study of ancient history and early Christian archaeology, his exploration of the poetry and mystery of ancient places, and his conception of his paintings as gifts rather than commercial objects. By looking into this rich background, they also show how Poussin introduced into his theory and practice of painting a new concept of the inherent expressiveness of form that was quite different from the then prevailing conventions for depicting the passions and affections. The first two chapters treat Vincenzo Giustiniani, the most sophisticated patron and art collector of his day, whose purpose and rationale for collecting ancient sculpture deeply influenced Poussin and the Flemish sculptor Francois Duquesnoy. Among other topics, the succeeding sections take up Poussin's deep readings of Montaigne and his friendships with the poet Giovanni Battista Marino, with artists such as Pietro Testa and Matteo Zaccolini, and with patrons and true friends, among them Cassiano dal Pozzo and Paul Fréart de Chantelou, for whom Poussin painted a special self-portrait, which the artist said stood for "The Love of Painting and Friendship."

The eminent scholar and critic Louis Marin considered the paintings and the writings of Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) an enduring source of inspiration, and he returned to Poussin again and again over the years. The ten major essays in this volume constitute his definitive statement on the painter who inspired his most eloquent and probing commentary. 17 illustrations.

The seventeenth century painter Nicolas Poussin founded the French Classical tradition, working the majority of his career in Rome. He specialised in history paintings, depicting scenes from the Bible, ancient history, and mythology, which are notable for their narrative clarity and dramatic force. Poussin was a man of contrasts; sensual, yet austere and intellectual, prizing reason, order and dispassion above all else. His art is a reconciliation and synthesis of these traits, setting an example of what would become the standard for a long tradition of academic art, continuing until the end of the nineteenth century. His influence was far-reaching, winning the approval of the Neoclassical masters, the Post-Impressionists and even modernists like Pablo Picasso. Delphi’s Masters of Art Series presents the world’s first digital e-Art books, allowing readers to explore the works of great artists in comprehensive detail. This volume presents Poussin’s complete paintings in beautiful detail, with concise introductions, hundreds of high quality images and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * The complete paintings of Nicolas Poussin – over 300 images, fully indexed and arranged in chronological and alphabetical order * Includes reproductions of rare works * Features a special ‘Highlights’ section, with concise introductions to the masterpieces, giving valuable contextual information * Enlarged ‘Detail’ images, allowing you to explore Poussin’s celebrated works in detail, as featured in traditional art books * Hundreds of images in colour – highly recommended for viewing on tablets and smartphones or as a valuable reference tool on more conventional eReaders * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the paintings * Easily locate the artworks you wish to view * Includes a selection of Poussin's drawings – explore the artist’s varied works * Features two bonus biographies – discover Poussin's artistic and personal life Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting e-Art books CONTENTS: The Highlights The Death of Chione (1622) Bacchanals: The Andrians (1627) The Death of Germanicus (1627) The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus (1629) Parnassus (1630) Plague of Ashdod (1630) The Adoration of the Golden Calf (1634) A Dance to the Music of Time (1636) The Israelites Gathering the Manna (1638) Et in Arcadia ego (1638) The Seven Sacraments (1640) Time Defending Truth against the Attacks of Envy and Discord (1641) Landscape with Polyphemus (1649) The Annunciation (1657) The Four Seasons (1660-1664) Apollo and Daphne (1664) The Paintings The Complete Paintings Alphabetical List of Paintings The Drawings List of Drawings The Biographies Poussin (1838) by Arthur Thomas Malkin Nicolas Poussin (1913) by Louis Gillet Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles or to buy the whole Art series as a Super Set

French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) spent most of his working life in Rome turning out works that fused the best features of Renaissance painting with influences of antiquity. Poussin stressed logic and clarity in his work, formulating doctrines with the aim of intellectualising art.

Nicolas Poussin, perhaps the most famous French painter of the seventeenth century, lived and worked for many years in Rome. Yet he remained deeply engaged with cultural and political transformations occurring in France, argues Todd R Olson in this original exploration of Poussin's paintings, their production, and their reception. Poussin's references to ancient literature and sculpture addressed a political elite -- the Robe nobility -- whose humanist education in classical antiquity equipped them to relate Greek and Roman history to contemporary events and to deploy ancient precedents in legalistic and political arguments. When the French civil war known as the Fronde erupted in the middle of the seventeenth century, the paintings that Poussin exported to France responded directly in both subject and style to the crisis in monarchical authority and the disenfranchisement of his Robe patrons. Olson demonstrates that Poussin's association with a disgraced political group, his loss of official support, and his exile in Italy imbued his history paintings with a symbolic weight. The painter's audience considered the hardearned pleasures of his restrained, difficult pictorial style a benchmark of integrity as well as a criticism of the Regency's indiscriminate collecting practices and taste for foreign luxury. Poussin transformed the easel painting -- its making and collection -- into an expression of cultural and political commitments binding a community. Olson's fresh insights reveal the importance of this painter's work to a learned and powerful French constituency at a critical moment in French history and demonstrate that Poussin's famously timeless style was far more responsive tohistorical contingencies than has been previously recognized.