An allegorical figure on a char

This drawing showing an allegorical female figure on a char led by snakes was probably a preparatory design for a sculptured panel. Although not by Poussin himself, it shows the influence of the master’s work. 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.