Nicolas Poussin, 'The Adoration of the Golden Calf'

The Director looks at Poussin's mesmerizing painting.

Transcript

In this painting by the 17th-century French artist, Nicolas Poussin, we see the Old Testament story of the Adoration of the Golden Calf.

The golden idol, which we see here high above the heads of the crowd, was made by the people of Israel after Moses left them in the wilderness while he climbed Mount Sinai.

Without their leader, they began to lose hope, and in desperation, built and worshipped a pagan idol - the golden calf. In this painting, the Israelites are shown dancing around it, and on the right, throwing up their arms in fervent adoration.

But this activity is soon to end, because in the distance, on the far left, Moses descends from Mount Sinai, carrying the tablets of the Ten Commandments in his arms.

When he discovered his people worshipping the idol, he was so enraged he threw the tablets to the ground, smashing them to pieces. If you look at the sky, the dark clouds seem to embody Moses' anger.

Despite the drama of this story, Poussin imbued his painting with a remarkable sense of stillness.

We know, for example, that the dancers in the foreground should be moving, but somehow their poses seem to be frozen in time. With their hands linked, these dancers form a human chain that weaves in and out of itself in the most harmonious and mesmerizing way.

This painting is, without doubt, one of the highlights of our collection of paintings by Poussin.

If you look around this room, you can see that it's a big collection, and this is because he held great appeal for British collectors, particularly in the 18th century, when many of these paintings first came to Britain.

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