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A Poignant Love Story Told in a Painting
Dreams and passions in Poussin’s masterpiece
There’s something spectacular going on in this painting, a celestial phenomenon told on a human scale.
Made in the French Baroque tradition by the classical artist Nicolas Poussin, the image has a touching story to tell.
First, notice the woman on the right, half-dressed in blue: she is drawing back a large drape that has been slung over a tree branch. As the light catches her we can see she is the winged figure of Night, who pulls back the curtain of darkness to reveal a new day.
Night is an example of a personification — a human figure intended to represent an abstract idea. To emphasise her role, she is surrounded by sleeping figures, including two children at her feet. Typically associated with Night, the children are sometimes shown in her arms, with one child representing Sleep, and the other as Death. For the Renaissance Humanists, Night and Day were thought of as destructive forces pulling us ceaselessly towards age and decline.
Beyond the dark green screen a whole scene presents itself. A second personification, this time the sun god Helios, or Apollo to the Romans, can be seen driving his golden chariot across the sky on its daily journey.
