Description
Like his colleague Claude Lorrain, Poussin depicted historical and mythological subjects in landscapes inspired by the countryside around Rome. His themes were often complex, and frequently incorporated witty allusions to classical texts. Here, a playful cupid tugs Pan, the goatlegged Greek god of the woods, toward Venus, the goddess of love. The painting cleverly illustrates the Latin phrase amor vincit omnia, or “love conquers all” (in Greek, pan means “all”). The woodland setting represents the idyllic paradise of Pan’s home.
Provenance
Cassiano dal Pozzo (Rome, Italy) to Gabriele dal Pozzo (1695, 1740); Lord Radstock, sold, Christie's, London, May 13, 1826, lot 27); Private collection, sold Phillips, London, 1829); Lord Northwick, Thirlestane House, near Cheltenham, by 1837, sold, Phillips, London, August 24, 1859, lot 1809); J. S. W.S. Erle Drax, Esq., Olantigh Towers, Wye, Kent, sold Christie's,London, February 19 and 21, 1910, lot 105, to Cohen; Cohen; David Horner, London, by 1925; Durlacher Brothers (London, England), sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1926.
Accession Number
1926.26
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Framed: 121 x 152 x 7 cm (47 5/8 x 59 13/16 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 97 x 127.5 cm (38 3/16 x 50 3/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Gift of J. H. Wade
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Canvas French
Background & Context
Background Story
Nymphs Feeding the Child Jupiter (Amor Vincit Omnia) is an early work by Poussin, painted during his first years in Rome when he was absorbing the influence of Italian Baroque painting. The subject—the nymphs of Mount Ida feeding the infant Jupiter with goat's milk—allows Poussin to combine mythological narrative with the sensual painting of mythological bodies that characterizes his early Italian period. The motto 'Amor Vincit Omnia' (Love Conquers All) connects the painting to the Neoplatonic tradition of interpreting mythological subjects as allegories of spiritual truths.
Cultural Impact
Poussin's early mythological paintings are less restrained than his later works, demonstrating the influence of Italian Baroque painting on his developing style. The nymphs and the infant Jupiter are rendered with a sensuousness that would be moderated in his later, more austere works, but the compositional discipline is already present: every figure is arranged according to principles of balance and variety that would become the foundation of his mature classicism.
Why It Matters
Nymphs Feeding the Child Jupiter is young Poussin in Italy: still sensuous, still under the influence of Baroque painting, but already demonstrating the compositional discipline that would become French Classicism. The motto 'Amor Vincit Omnia' is both the painting's theme and its prophecy—love, and classicism, will conquer all.
