Nicolas PoussinFrench, 1594–1665Bacchanal
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Bacchanal” now? Collection: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Not on view at present. Checked November 11, 2026.
New York, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1998.225
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art — Open Access (CC0)
In the life of Nicolas Poussin
The whole life1624–1640
Domenichino’s academy, anatomy, measuring ancient statues
He resumed his study of anatomy with the surgeon Larchet, drew models at Domenichino’s academy, worked in the open air and measured ancient statues — on the back of the drawing “The Victory of Joshua” survive his measurements of the Apollo Belvedere; unlike many, he did not “restore” the lost fragments of antiques. In his Roman years he began to learn modelling, made wax models, arranged them in the order he wanted on a board, and copied Titian’s “Bacchanal” — in oil and as a bas-relief together with one of the Duquesnoy brothers.
1630s
Cassiano dal Pozzo — his chief patron
Poussin’s flowering coincided with his complete abandonment of church commissions: he gathered a circle of patrons around him but strove for independence, accepting commissions from connoisseurs without binding himself to any of them permanently. The most important was Cassiano dal Pozzo; in the surviving correspondence the relationship comes close to servitude, although the painter did not live in his house.
1630s
Brother-in-law Gaspard Dughet — his first pupil
After the wedding Poussin went on living in the house on the Via Paolina; with him lived Anne-Marie’s brother Gaspard Dughet, the future well-known landscape painter, and from 1636 his younger brother Jean. Poussin became Gaspard’s first teacher, and Gaspard later took his surname; the marriage seems to have been a happy one, but childless.
1635
Richelieu commissions “Bacchanals” and “The Birth of Venus”
His first French commissions came from the envoy François de Créquy and then from Cardinal Richelieu — a series of “Bacchanals”; for Richelieu he also created “The Birth of Venus” (1635), an elaborate composition full of dynamic figures.
