1311.] Meynoirs of Nicholas Poussin, 139 
superabundance of ** false brilliancy. 
This reprehensible novelty has been' 
greatly patronised by literary associations 
of all kinds, and, at length, has acquired 
the appellation of the academical style. 
The society here alluded to, however, 
has, in opposition to custom, ciowned a 
candidate, who dared to present himself 
in the arena, without any of that pomp 
and affectation so usual in similar cases. 
He does not abound vvith fine phrases, 
but he proves himself to be a man of 
letters, a friend of the fine arts, and even 
an artist himself. 
Nicholas Poussin, the subject of the 
present memoir, was simple and modest 
in his manner olTiving, as well as in the 
exhibition of those grand conceptions 
which have placed him in the rank of 
great painters. The panegyrist, in this 
discourse, has had sufficient good sense 
to conform his style to the predominant 
character of the subject of it; and, instead 
of exalting, or even praising, the eagle of 
the French school, he is simply content, 
for his glory, as well as his own repula, 
tion, to make the world acquainted with 
him: in this he has perfectly succeeded. 
On some occasions, however, he knows 
how to assume an elevated tone: “ Sub¬ 
lime painter! divine artist! disclose to 
us your secret; develope your genius; 
tell us how, and by what means, you 
have produced so many and such great 
works ? Ah ! doubtless, were you in the 
midst of us, you would reply like Newton, 
when interrogated respecting his impor¬ 
tant discoveries, ‘ It was by always 
thinking of tliem;’—it was by constantly 
following Nature, which never deceives 
those who pursue her traces vvith fidelity ; 
—by always keeping in mind the fine 
conceptions of the ancients, who are our 
masters in all the arts;—by observing Na¬ 
ture, not only in her grand masses, but 
also in her most trifling details. During 
my walks,- and in my journies, every ob¬ 
ject afforded to me a new subject for me¬ 
ditation ; animals, men, trees, and shrubs, 
the rivers and their banks, all, even to 
the ruins of rocks, and the remnants of 
public monuments, ravaged by time, as 
well as by the hands of the barbarians. 
With my pencil in my liand, I always 
traced whatever appeared worthy of ob¬ 
servation, at the very moment it pre¬ 
sented itself, provided it seemed deserving 
ol notice, and particularly if it could 
prove useful to mei in the course of my 
labours.” 
The parallel between Raphael and 
Poussin, deserves to be quoted; No 
man ever received from Nature more ta¬ 
lents, or a greater genius for painting, 
than Raphael, lie appears to have been 
exclusively created for his own particular 
art. His compositions exhibit admirable 
simplicity; his dispositions are magnifi¬ 
cent; his thoughts not only fine but na¬ 
tural; his expressions eloquent; his atti¬ 
tudes constantly natural; in short, no¬ 
thing forced, or at variance with liiinselfi, 
The distinguishing characteristics of his 
figures are, elegance and nobleness; his 
outlines are natural and easy ; his colours 
make one forget that he attended but 
little to this branch of Ins art; a certaia 
air given to his heads, bestow on them 
something like divinity; in a word, 2ia« 
phael has united sublimity with grace ; he 
is the Virgil of painting, or rather, he is a 
celestial painter descended on the earth, 
like the angel whose name he bears, in 
order to cliarm mankind by the inexpres¬ 
sible beauty of his works. 
Poussin exhibited the exquisite sen¬ 
timent of whatever is true, simple, or na¬ 
tural. Each of his ideas is pr:)found, and 
appears to be the result of mature reflec¬ 
tions, made in his own mind before he 
had transferred tliem to the canvas^ 
Nearly all his figures possess the charac¬ 
ter of graiW, noble, serene, or majest ic, in 
express conformity to the subject of winch 
he happened to treat. His colours aie 
suitable to the serenity of his style; all 
the airs assumed by his heads, are either 
grave or heroic. Judgment and sagacity 
are never wanting. We never find lit 
any of his works, those anachronisms s» 
frequent in the pictures of other great 
painters, who finish their pictures merely 
to please monks and prelates. When we 
examine his labours, it is immediately 
suggested to our imagination, that they 
have been completed by the pencil of a 
Greek artist; there is but little modern 
in his compositions; they are the compo¬ 
sitions of an ancient, born in the seven¬ 
teenth century of our era. He subju¬ 
gates the mind by the force of his genius; 
he speaks rather to the soul than to the 
imagination. His style, which is close 
and concise, produces much thought in 
others. To the eyes of philosophers, 
Poussin is a great painter; to them in¬ 
deed, he is the Tacitus of painting,” 
During the remainder of the eulogiurn, 
M Rualt points out a multitude of charac¬ 
teristic twdts peculiar to his subject; but 
many will doubtless think, that be is too 
passionately addicted to bis hero, when 
he assigns to him a marked superiority 
over all the grand painters, either of an- 
3 cient 
