Nicolas Poussin Biography
Nicolas Poussin was born on June 15, 1594 in Les Andelys, France. He moved to Paris to study and work in the workshop of Ferdinand Elle, a Flemish painter, and later with G. Lallemand. Over his time in Paris, he began to learn the art of the French Mannerists of Fontainebleau and that of the renowned Italian Renaissance artists, specifically Leonardo da Vinci and Raffaello Sanzio. In March 1624, after a stay in Venice, Poussin reached Rome and decided to settle there for the rest of his life. Poussin never joined the tradition of Caravaggio, but followed the Venetian pictorial tradition of the sixteenth century, becoming a fervent admirer of Titian's work. In 1640, Nicolas Poussin was invited to Paris by King Louis XIII to direct the decorations of the great Gallery of the Louvre Museum. However, after two years, he preferred to return to Rome. Despite an annoying tremor in his hands, which forced him to slow down his work and interrupt it for long periods, Nicolas Poussin continued to paint almost until the moment of his death, which occurred on 19 November 1665.
