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Anonymous Artist (painter) Nicolas Poussin (related artist) French, 1594 - 1665 Nymphs Feeding the Child Jupiter, c. 1650 oil on canvas overall: 117.4 x 155.3 cm (46 1/4 x 61 1/8 in.) framed: 148 x 184.2 x 12.1 cm (58 1/4 x 72 1/2 x 4 3/4 in.) Samuel H. Kress Collection 1952.2.21 On View |
Object 6 of 8
According to Roman mythology, the infant Jupiter was concealed from his murderous father on the island of Crete. The princess Amalthea uses a goat's horn, or cornucopia, to give him milk to drink, while her sister Melissa holds a honeycomb for him to eat. Thus nurtured in secret, Jupiter grew to manhood and overthrew his father to become king of the Olympian deities. In the otherwise muted color scheme, the princess holding Jupiter wears pure yellow and blue, attracting attention to the main character. Poussin's coherent compositions and lucid color contrasts were in accord with a belief that painting, like mathematics, was governed by absolute logic. To obtain these calculated effects, Poussin often constructed a theatrical shadow box which, filled with movable wax manikins, served as a model for his final picture.
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