Olivier Bonfait
Art historian and Professor at the University

Maniera magnifica and ornament
(...) In the case of Poussin’s painting, it is possible for the viewer to stand 3 metres away to get an overall view of the painting, or go as close as 30 cm, and still take in the composition and the interaction of the figures. The tapestry, on the other hand, fills the gaze. (...) The figures represented, slightly larger than life size and occupying almost two thirds of the height of the composition in the tapestry (...), form a group that is higher than the viewer.
oussin has painted it so that the group of figures, slightly off-centre, is only one aspect of the painting with (...) the broad and lively landscape as another protagonist of the painting (...). Moreover, the vast area on the right of the canvas, with the allegories of the Nile and the sphinx, the river with the hippopotamus hunt, and the big sky streaked with clouds, brings in the dimension of History and takes us beyond the single moment of the story.
In the tapestry, the figures form a group which constitutes a more than predominant centre of the composition and is surrounded by ornament (the designs of the greenery with flowers, the precious objects, the statue of the sphinx), while the landscape has become a backdrop, and the sky a background. (...)
To sum up, the tapestry favours the overall appearance and the painting places the emphasis on the composition.