Two figures meeting

This drawing, showing a couple (?) joining their hands together, was probably a preparatory design for a sculptured panel or a low-relief. Although not by Poussin himself, it shows some characteristics of the master’s work and was probably made by a close follower. Active in France and Italy, Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665) executed many series of paintings and drawings, with a general moralizing tone, dealing with Christian or mythological themes influenced by Roman Antiquity and the Renaissance masters.