Zittende vrouwenfiguur 1642 - 1644

Nicolas Poussin made this sketch of a seated woman in the mid-17th century. Poussin was a Frenchman in Rome, dedicated to a particularly severe and intellectual vision of classicism. This sketch offers us a glimpse into the ways that artists used the classical past. In his time, the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in France set strict rules for artistic training and production. The Academy promoted the idea of ‘ideal’ forms derived from antique sculpture, but of course that was also a very political claim about what constituted the best kind of art. It encouraged historical and mythological subjects, that were thought to have greater moral value than scenes of everyday life. To understand Poussin’s work, historians consult surviving drawings, letters, and academic discourses to reconstruct the artistic and intellectual environment in which he worked. By understanding the social and institutional context in which it was made, we can better appreciate how the art of the past continues to shape our present.