Autumn (The Spies with the Grapes of the Promised Land) 1664

Nicolas Poussin painted Autumn (The Spies with the Grapes of the Promised Land) without a known date, and it now resides in the Louvre. It is a serene yet loaded depiction of spies gathering grapes, set against an arcadian landscape. Painted in the 17th century, the artwork reflects a period of religious and political tensions. Poussin, a French artist working in Rome, draws from the Old Testament, specifically the story in Numbers where spies return from Canaan with bountiful fruits, promising a land of plenty, but their account also sows seeds of doubt and fear among the Israelites. Here, the figures are idealized, almost stoic, yet the weight of the grapes hints at the burden of their mission. The painting, while seemingly celebrating abundance, also subtly addresses the complexities of promise and the potential for its betrayal. How might these depictions have resonated in a Europe rife with religious conflict and territorial ambitions? How did it feel to want a promised land?