The Triumph of Flora (Poussin)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Poussin_-_Le_Triomphe_de_Flore%2C_1627-1628%2C_INV_7298_%3B_MR_2346.jpg/400px-Poussin_-_Le_Triomphe_de_Flore%2C_1627-1628%2C_INV_7298_%3B_MR_2346.jpg)
The Triumph of Flora (French: Le Triomphe de Flore) is an oil painting by Nicolas Poussin, dated to about 1627 or 1628, which is now in the Louvre in Paris.[1]
The nymph Chloris, honoured by the Greeks; and afterwards by the Romans as Flora, the goddess of flowers and gardens, was a natural subject for Poussin, who was a great admirer of the ancient religious rites.[2]
Description
[edit]The picture exhibits the goddess seated in a splendid car drawn by two winged boys, accompanied by a numerous train of nymphs, youths, and cupids, most of whom have flowers either in baskets or in their hands; her attention is directed to Mars, who stands at the side of her car, acknowledging her sovereignty as she passes. Among her attendants may be noticed a youth performing antics: in advance of him two nymphs dancing, and scattering flowers which others are gathering; and above are two cupids, one of whom is placing a chaplet on her head. Close to the front are a fine formed man naked and recumbent on some drapery, and a female reclining on his lap.[2]
Smith (1837) lamented its poor state of preservation. "Of this once excellent picture, little of its original beauty remains; the brown ground on which it was painted having destroyed all the delicate tints, and made others so obscure as to be nearly black."[2]
Engraved by Audran, Niquet and Fessard.[2][3][4]
References
[edit]- ^ "Le Triomphe de Flore (INV 7298 ; MR 2346)". Louvre.
- ^ a b c d Smith 1837, p. 126 (no. 243).
- ^ "Print (1856,0308.669)". British Museum.
- ^ "Le Triomphe de Flore (1266 C/ Recto)". Louvre.
Bibliography
[edit]- Smith, John (1837). A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters: Nicholas Poussin, Claude Lorraine, and Jean Baptist Greuze. Vol. 8. London: Smith and Son. pp. 126 (no. 243), 135 (no. 269).
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
External links
[edit]Media related to Le triomphe de Flore - Poussin - Louvre INV 7298 at Wikimedia Commons