Bust of Nicolas Poussin

Bust of Nicolas Poussin
Artist	François Duquesnoy
Year	c. 1630
Type	Sculpture
Medium	Marble
Subject	Nicolas Poussin
Dimensions	70.5 cm × 51.5 cm (27.7 in × 20.3 in)
Location	Bode Museum, Berlin
Coordinates	52°31′19″N 13°23′41″E

The Bust of Nicolas Poussin is a marble portrait bust by the Flemish sculptor François Duquesnoy. Nicolas Poussin was a close friend of Duquesnoy, and the leading classicist painter in 17th-century French art, although he spent most of his working life in Rome.

Both Poussin's and Duquesnoy's visions were at odds with the mainstream Baroque style of artists such as Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona.^[1] The portrait sculpture was completed in the 1630s, and is currently housed at the Bode Museum in Berlin.^[2]

Sculpture

Duquesnoy was a close friend of a number of prominent artists in Rome; among these was Poussin. The two artists even shared a house in 1626.^[3]

Duquesnoy produced a small bust for Poussin, with details carefully worked out. The sitter has a melancholy face. The stylish rendering of moustache and beard and the composition itself are strongly reminiscent of Duquesnoy's Nano di Créqui and his bust of Cardinal Maurizio of Savoy.^[4] The physiognomy and the surface of the sitter's skin are delicately rendered; delicacy and sensitivity contrast with the long, curvy hair framing the sitter's face.^[2][5]

References

1. Wright, Christopher (1985). Poussin Paintings: A Catalogue Raisonné. New York: Hippocrene. pp. 49–50. ISBN 0-87052-218-3.
2. "Nicolas Poussin – Duquesnoy". Google Arts and Culture; Bode Museum. Retrieved 20 September 2020.^{[dead link‍]}
3. Brooks, Julian; Franklin, David (2008). Bernini and the Birth of Baroque Portrait Sculpture. J. Paul Getty Museum. p. 301. ISBN 9780892369324.
4. Lingo, Estelle (2002). "The Greek Manner and a Christian "Canon": François Duquesnoy's "Saint Susanna"". The Art Bulletin. 84 (1). The Art Bulletin (Vol. 84, No. 1) via jstor: 65–93. doi:10.2307/3177253. JSTOR 3177253.
5. Lavin, Irving (1970). "Duquesnoy's Nano di Créqui and Two Busts by Francesco Mochi". The Art Bulletin. 52 (2). The Art Bulletin (Vol. 52, No. 2) via jstor: 132–149. doi:10.2307/3048702. JSTOR 3048702.

External links

• Bust of Nicolas Poussin at Google Arts and Culture^{[dead link‍]}