Nicholas Poussin’s The Death of Germanicus (1627, The Minneapolis Institute of Arts) depicts a group of Roman soldiers in a wide range of emotions towards the unjust death of their heroic captain. On the far left a soldier turns his muscular back toward the viewer and raises his hand to his face as though hiding his despair. The mass of soldiers is embodied by the two foremost soldiers; one is wearing a vibrant red cloak and shimmering helmet, his contrapposto pose suggests he has just arrived, while the other key soldier stands solid, resembling a marble statue. He is wearing golden armor and stands closest to Germanicus with his hand raised heavenward to display his level of allegiance. Poussin draws the viewer’s eye to the crisp white forms of Germanicus’s cloak. The essential moral link in the painting is the V shape created by angles of the statuesque soldier together with the form of the grieving wife. In this void lies the dead Germanicus who is honored for his virtue and piety by the burly soldiers and a loving family alike.
Germanicus is a testimony to Poussin’s study of ancient Roman history and archaeology. The entire work is reminiscent of a Roman frieze: the horizontal lines, the row of figures and the blue drapery above the bed bring order of movement close to the viewer and create intimacy in the scene. Fortunately Poussin moves past the relief like qualities in his creation of depth in the space. The background is complete with pilasters and spacious archways, allowing the architecture to echo the narrative in the scene. Poussin’s display of a controlled freedom of the brush, intricate detail and diverse use of bold forms and figures to portray a wide variety of moral meaning became the foundation of French art and Neo-classicism.
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