Early 18th French School From Century: Holy Family At The Staircase After Poussin

French School of the late 17th or early 18th century, follower of Nicolas Pousssin. Oil on canvas presented in a beautiful carved and gilded wooden frame from the Regency period. Our painting is the work of a follower of Nicolas Poussin and uses the exact composition of the Master's work dated 1648 and presented at the Cleveland Museum in the United States. In classical architecture, the Virgin holds the baby Jesus on her lap and receives the visit of Saint Elizabeth and Saint John the Baptist Child, who hands her an apple to give her the world. Saint Joseph, all in humility and discretion remains in the shadows and works on his profession of carpenter to provide for the needs of the Holy Family. We resume with the agreement of the author whom we thank, the notice of Mr. Guy de Compiegne (https://www.nicolas-poussin.com/actualites/escalier/): "As we show the positioning of the point of Escaped, Poussin places us at the bottom of the staircase with a visual space framed by imposing buildings allowing to channel the gaze. He thus invites us to climb the steps towards the upper part of the paintings where a sky reigns. majestic "[Chick immobilizes]" the scene by distributing the characters over the entire width of the steps. The only way that our eye can take to climb the seven steps is that which spans Saint Joseph, but the passage is blocked by his carpenter's rule By projecting a ray of sunshine on this ruler as well as on Joseph's resting foot, a detail that we find in the Holy Family in Egypt, Poussin clearly indicates to us that it is not a question here of climbing the physically but to do it by an exercise in motionless contemplation by visualizing what is offered on each step of the staircase: On the first level we have offerings, a basket of fruit probably intended for the temple as well as the incense and myrrh of these wise men who were the first to have the intuition of the birth of Jesus Christ. On the third step we have Saint Elizabeth and her son Saint John the Baptist who, being the last prophet to announce the coming of Jesus, this new Adam to whom he offers an apple, is located with his mother and Joseph on a time step in above the three wise men. Mary sits on the fourth step because by being the mother of Christ she is the privileged intercessor between God and the believers. She holds in her arms the baby Jesus to whom Poussin not only gives a higher seat but who from our point of view, at the bottom of the staircase, also appears crowned by the temple forming a canopy above his head. This spiritual and not physical ascent, which Poussin invites us to make, ends at the top of the pyramidal composition by a portion of sky framed by the columns of the temple, thus associating the church with the abode of the Lord. The surprising element of this painting is a vase placed on the second step, which Marie holds firmly under her foot. Poussin has painted many times jars or basins with multiple curved shapes containing the fruits of nature or spring water in order to evoke a parallel between the fertility of nature and that of women. Poussin may wish to indicate here the supernatural fertilization of the Virgin having kept her fertility under control. "Very good condition, cleaned table, richly carved frame which has retained its original 18th century gilding. Beautiful amateur painting. Dimensions of the frame 78 by 62cm Dimensions of the canvas is 56 by 43cm