This paper will provide a visual analysis of The Arcadian Shepherds, a painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665). The subject of this study is the first version of the work, painted by Poussin in the late 1620s. Although Poussin was primarily known for his use of the classical style, this early work shows the influences of both the baroque style and the Venetian school, which was led by Titian.
According to de la Croix and Tansey, Poussin was a key figure in establishing the classical style in French painting, a style noted for its "rational order and stability." Wilkin claims that Poussin's work represents the "High Art" of the classical style, in that it presents "elevated and learned themes with great formal rigor and scrupulous evocation of the antique." In addition, Wilkin points out that Poussin's paintings show the "order, discipline, accuracy, amplitude, clarity, severity, ambition, certitude," which are characteristic of the classical style. Poussin developed his sense of classicism while living in Rome. Although he was born in France, Poussin traveled to Rome at the age of thirty, and he lived there for the rest of his life. While in Rome, he was influenced by the ancient and Renaissance art that surrounded him. In addition, he was influenced by the work of Raphael, a painter who had lived in the city a century before. Raphael was known for using balanced proportions in his paintings. Imitating this style, Poussin became a founder of late seventeenth-century classicism in art.
There were actually two versions of The Arcadian Shepherds painted by Poussin. Both consist of the same visual theme: arcadian peasants, three men and one woman, examine the words on a tomb. In both paintings, the words are "Et in Arcadia ego," which can be translated as either "I, too, in Arcadia" or "Even in Arcadia, I [am present]." The second version, painted in 1655, clearly shows the classical style that Poussin adopted w...