Nicolas Poussin, 'Landscape with a Man scooping Water from a Stream', about 1637

Landscape with a Man scooping Water from a Stream

Nicolas Poussin

Room 29

About the work

Overview

A sandy path meanders through a landscape of dunes towards distant hills and mountains. An old man in blue with his back towards us occupies the foreground, a sack and water bottle lying beside him on the ground. He seems to be watching a younger man who bends to scoop water from a pool with a pottery shard.

Trees frame the path which draws us into the scene and leads our eyes towards the distance. The small town and people in the background, and the dappled areas of light and shade, evoke the Roman Campagna, in which Poussin often travelled to make studies.

This painting has no known literary source, although it echoes a story from the life of the Greek Cynic philosopher Diogenes. On seeing a young boy use his hands to drink water, Diogenes threw away his cup. He advocated a life without possessions and luxury.

In-depth

A sandy path meanders through a landscape of dunes towards distant hills and mountains. An old man in blue with his back towards us occupies the foreground, a sack and water bottle lying beside him on the ground. He seems to be watching a young man on the other side of the path who bends to scoop water from a pool with a pottery shard.

Trees frame the path which draws us into the scene and leads our eyes towards the distance. The small town and several people in the background are roughly sketched, conveyed using simple dots of paint. The buildings and people in the background, and the dappled areas of light and shade, evoke the Roman Campagna, in which Poussin often travelled to make studies. Blue mountains merge with the cloudy sky at dusk, another technique to create a feeling of distance: far-off mountain ranges seem blue because distance alters the way colours appear to us. The brown-green tones of the pond are carried through into the landscape beyond. Poussin attempts to create the reflection of the trees on the water’s surface, although this lacks skill and reflects the early stage of his career. The edges of the leaves and branches catch the sunlight, and overlapping brushstrokes convey their different types.

Poussin’s work was also inspired by art from classical antiquity. The symmetry of the leaning trees, the blue sky and sandy landscape taking up equal areas and the central path give the composition order and balance. The men’s muscular and idealised physiques recall antique statuary.

This painting is not based on any known story, although it loosely echoes the life of the Greek Cynic philosopher Diogenes (about 400–325 BC) who advocated a life without possessions and luxury: he threw away his cup on seeing a young boy use his hands to drink water. It might also hint at the philosophy of the Stoics, who thought that in order to become a good person you had to live according to certain virtues, including wisdom, courage, justice and moderation. These themes were revived in the seventeenth century and became popular with Poussin and his patrons.

Poussin painted this work for one of his most important patrons, Cassiano dal Pozzo, and around the same time as Landscape with travellers resting. They are among Poussin’s earliest landscape paintings, made in the late 1630s. On the back of the canvas of both paintings are labels indicating that in 1739 Cosimo Antonio dal Pozzo gave the pictures to his daughter Maria Laura. These works were probably not intended to be displayed as a pair, but both include a person sitting, leg outstretched, in the foreground, and the paths in each painting recede in opposite directions.

Key facts

Details

Full title: Landscape with a Man scooping Water from a Stream
Artist: Nicolas Poussin
Artist dates: 1594 - 1665
Date made: about 1637
Medium and support: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 63 × 77.7 cm
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1970
Inventory number: NG6390
Location: Room 29
Collection: Main Collection
Frame: 17th-century French Frame

Provenance

Painted for Cassiano dal Pozzo and/or his younger brother, Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo; thence by descent to Giusepppe Boccapaduli (1729–1809); probably sold by him to the painter and dealer Gavin Hamilton (1723–98) in 1779; probably in the collection of William Wyndham, 1st Lord Grenville (1759–1834), Prime Minister 1806–7, at Dropmore House, Bucks; by descent to his widow, Anne Pitt (1773–1864), and then to the Hon. George Matthew Fortescue; in the sale of the Fortescue collection in 1939 as by Poussin (Dropmore House, Burnham, 27 February 1939, Farebrother, Ellis & Co., part lot 217); there bought by Tomas Harris, from whom bought by 1945 by Sir George Leon (1875–1947) of Warfield House, Bracknell; inherited by his widow, Dorothy, and sold(?) by her to R.F. Heathcoat-Amory; sold by his executors, Sotheby’s, 27 June 1962 (lot 88, £14,000 to Leggatt); bought by Mrs D.M. Allnatt of Doughty House, Richmond Hill; on loan to the National Gallery from 1962; bought from Mrs Allnatt’s executors in 1970 under an option contained in the loan agreement.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Humphrey Wine, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings’, London 2001; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1945

A. Blunt, 'Two Newly Discovered Landscapes by Nicolas Poussin', The Burlington Magazine, LXXXVII/509, 1945, pp. 184-6
1948

T. Bertin-Mourot, 'Addenda au catalogue de Grautoff depuis 1914', Bulletin de la Société Poussin, II/31, 1948, pp. 8ff
1960

F. Haskell and S. Rinehart, 'The Dal Pozzo Collection: Some New Evidence', The Burlington Magazine, CII/688, 1960, pp. 318-26
1960

S. Rinehart, 'Poussin et la famille dal Pozzo', in A. Chastel (ed.), Nicolas Poussin: 13e colloque international du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, sciences humaines, Paris 1960, vol. 1, pp. 19-30
1961

D. Mahon, 'Réflexions sur les paysages de Poussin', Art de France, I, 1961
1962

D. Sutton, 'The Classical Ideal: An Exhibition at Bologna', Apollo, 1962
1964

C. Dempsey, Nicolas Poussin and the Natural Order, Ann Arbor 1964
1966

A. Blunt, The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: A Critical Catalogue, London 1966
1971

The National Gallery, The National Gallery: January 1969 - December 1970, London 1971
1973

A. Brejon de Lavergnée, 'Tableaux de Poussin et d'autres artistes français dans la collection Dal Pozzo: Deux inventaires inédits', Revue de l'art, 1973, pp. 79-97
1980

D. Wild, Nicolas Poussin: Band I, Leben, Werk, Exkurse, Band II, Katalog der Werke, Zürich 1980
1988

T. Standring, 'Some Pictures by Poussin in the Dal Pozzo Collection: Three New Inventories', The Burlington Magazine, CXXX/1025, 1988, pp. 608-26
1990

R. Verdi, Cézanne and Poussin: The Classical Vision of Landscape (exh. cat. Scottish National Gallery, 9 August - 21 October 1990), Edinburgh 1990
1990

A. Wintermute, Claude to Corot: The Development of Landscape Painting in France (exh. cat. P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd., 1 November - 15 December 1990), New York 1990
1992

D.L. Sparti, Le collezioni dal Pozzo: Storia di una famiglia e del suo museo nella Roma seicentesca, Modena 1992
1992

H. Wine and O. Koester, Fransk Guldalder: Poussin and Claude and French Painting of the Seventeenth Century, (exh. cat. Statens Museum for Kunst, 29 February - 3 May 1992), Copenhagen 1992
1993

D. Carrier, Poussin's Paintings: A Study in Art-Historical Methodology, Univerisity Park PA 1993
1994

P. Rosenberg, Nicolas Poussin, 1594-1665: Catalogue raisonné des dessins, Milan 1994
1996

Y. Ishaghpour, Poussin, là où le lointain: Mythe et paysage, Paris 1996
1996

F. Peretti and T. Standring, France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings, (exh. cat. Walpole Gallery, 26 June - 31 July 1996), London 1996
2000

M. Kitson, Studies on Claude and Poussin, London 2000
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2001

Wine, Humphrey, National Gallery Catalogues: The Seventeenth Century French Paintings, London 2001
2005

W. Sauerländer, 'Noch einmal Poussins Landschaften: Ein Versuch über Möglichkeiten und Grenzen der ikonologischen Interpretation', Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst, III/56, 2005, pp. 107-37
2007

P. Rosenberg and K. Christiansen, Poussin and Nature: Arcadian Visions (exh. cat. Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao, 8 October 2007 - 13 January 2008; Metropolitan Museum of Art, 12 February - 11 May 2008), Bilbao 2007
2008

W. Sauerländer, 'Paysages de Poussin: Les limites de l'interprétation iconologique', Studiolo, 6, 2008, pp. 191-232

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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You've viewed 6 of 16 works

Nicolas Poussin, 'Landscape with a Man scooping Water from a Stream', about 1637

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Nicolas Poussin