The Lamentation

The Lamentation from 1626 at a National Trust property shows early Poussin treating the mourning over Christ's body. The emotional intensity of his early works reflects the influence of Roman Baroque painting. 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 reveals a painter who regarded painting as philosophy made...

The mourning figures surround Christ's body with dramatic emotional intensity. Poussin's early handling combines Baroque pathos with developing classical structure.