Acis and Galatea
Nicolas Poussin·1627
Historical Context
Acis and Galatea from 1627 at the National Gallery of Ireland depicts the love story from Ovid's Metamorphoses that ends in Acis's death at the hands of the jealous Polyphemus. Poussin's early mythological paintings capture the sensuous beauty of classical love narratives. 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 correspon...
Technical Analysis
The pastoral composition groups the lovers in a landscape setting. Poussin's warm early palette and fluid figure handling create a scene of mythological romance.
