Nicolas Poussin

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“What perspective towards the horizon meant to Poussin, the force of gravity meant to Courbet. (italics in original)”

“Virgil, above all others, has shown himself a great observer. So proficient is he that often, by the mere sound of words chosen, he actually puts before us the thing described. If he speaks of love, his words are so skillfully brought together that a sweet harmony results, whereas, when he sings of warlike deeds or describes a tempest, the verse hastens, and the resonant sounds admirably depict a scene of fury, tumult, and terror.”

“Reason, not appetite, should control the judgment.”

“To judge well is very difficult. To do so requires both theory and practice.”

“They do not realize that it is contrary to order and nature to place very large and massive things in high places or to make very delicate or weak bodies carry heavy weights.”

“There are two ways of seeing things. One is simply looking at them, the other means considering them attentively. Only to see is nothing else but receiving into the eye the form or likeness of the object looked at, but to consider a thing is more than this; that is, to seek with special diligence after the means of knowing this object thoroughly.”

“I never feel myself so stimulated to be painstaking as after I have seen a beautiful object.”

“You do not need to trouble yourself to send me the other portions of your poem; one can judge the lion by his claws. I have not yet seen the piece you sent, I am keeping it for some one who will know how to appreciate its beauty. It should not be wasted on a mediocre painter; that would be like casting pearls before swine.”