Nicolas  Poussin
Considered one of the most illustrious artists in his lifetime, Poussin was a very special painter. His career was indeed based on the painting of so-called “easel” paintings, a medium-sized format destined only for private collectors prepared to wait several years to acquire them...
Poussin’s painting is moreover an “intellectualised” form of painting, which demanded an extensive literary and religious culture, and which rejected facility and virtuosity. His work was part of the “Republic of Letters” and was received enthusiastically by leading European collectors. Poussin was interested above all in nourishing the spirit rather than seducing the eye.