Date of Award

8-9-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Art

First Advisor

Lynne Larsen

Abstract

For this thesis I look at six works by Nicolas Poussin, Venus and Adonis (c. 1627-1630), Narcissus and Echo (c. 1630), Landscape with Man Pursued by Snake (c. 1637), Landscape with Man Killed by Snake (c. 1648), Landscape with Orpheus and Eurydice (c. 1648-1650), and Landscape during a Thunderstorm with Pyramus and Thisbe (c. 1651). I explore the themes of mortality and the concept of inevitable death as it is emphasized by the choices of subject matter, the composition of the works, and the use of light in the works. Through extensive visual analysis and research of the current body of work on Poussin, I determine that Poussin depicts his subjects as mortal and flawed humans that attempt and fail to reach the level of the deities they interact with. In that failure, their death is all but inevitable as discussed in the Ovidian narrative the Poussin is painting.

Download

Share

COinS