Nicolas Poussin

Nicolas Poussin was a French Baroque painter who lived from 1594 to 1665 and became the leading figure of the classical French Baroque style, though he spent most of his working life in Rome. He briefly served as First Painter to King Louis XIII, working mainly for Italian and French collectors on religious and mythological subjects such as Et in Arcadia ego and The Four Seasons, and his art favors clarity, logic, order and line over color. His emphasis on intellectual rigor and classical principles remained a major inspiration for artists from Jacques-Louis David and Ingres through Cezanne.