The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth 1650

Editor: Here we have Nicolas Poussin's "The Holy Family with the Infant Saint John the Baptist and Saint Elizabeth" at the Harvard Art Museums. The figures and architecture seem to have been carefully constructed, but how would you interpret the artist's choice of materials in conveying this scene? Curator: I notice the tangible qualities—the pigment, the canvas itself. Poussin’s labor is manifest in layering these materials to create an idealized scene. This labor, this material process, inherently frames the depiction of familial piety. Editor: That's a really interesting point. So the materiality contrasts with the idealized subject matter? Curator: Precisely. Consider the socioeconomic context—how would Poussin’s patrons have viewed this interplay between material creation and spiritual subject matter? Editor: I never thought about it that way before, but it definitely provides a new perspective on the painting. Thanks! Curator: My pleasure. There's always so much to learn when considering the material creation of art.