Midas à la source du Pactole

Midas at the Source of the Pactolus from around 1626 at the Musee Fesch shows Poussin painting the mythological king washing away his golden touch. The story served as a moral fable about the dangers of greed, a theme that resonated with Poussin's Stoic philosophy. Working in Rome from 1624 onwards, Poussin served a cultivated international clientele of French and Italian patrons who prized his learned, disciplined approach to classical antiquity and religious narrative. His correspondence re...

The composition sets the figure within a landscape that supports the moral narrative. Poussin's handling of the water and landscape demonstrates his developing classical landscape style.