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Nicolas Poussin
French, active Rome, 1594-1665 The Destruction and Sack of the Temple of Jerusalem 1625–26 Oil on canvas 145.8 x 194 cm Gift of Yad Hanadiv in memory of Sir Isaiah Berlin Accession number: B99.0001 |
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“…Caesar [Titus] shouted and waved to the combatants to put out the fire; but his shouts were unheard as their ears were deafened by a greater din, and his gesticulations went unheeded amidst the distractions of battle and bloodshed. As the legions charged in, neither persuasion nor threat could check their impetuosity: passion alone was in command...” (Josephus Flavius, The Jewish War, VI.5–6)
This work from Poussin’s early Italian period was commissioned by his patron Cardinal Francesco Barberini and offered as a gift to Cardinal Richelieu, the French head of state. At the time, Barberini was head of a papal legation that attempted in vain to negotiate an end to the bloody war between France and Spain. Poussin draws a parallel between his patron, the would-be peacemaker, and the enlightened pagan emperor Titus, who – according to the account of Josephus Flavius – tried unsuccessfully to prevent the ruin of Jerusalem and its Temple. |
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