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 | | Venus, a Faun and Putti
Nicolas Poussin
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Valentin de Boullogne, known as Le Valentin
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| | Paintings by French 17th- and 18th-century artists - only a small part of the splendid collection of French art - are allotted one room in the New Hermitage. Here we can see the harmony-filled compositions of the great 17th-century painter Nicholas Poussin and other Classical artists. The lyrical landscapes of Claude Lorrain hang alongside the emotional, romantic landscapes of Joseph Vernet. Elegance and grace are the hallmarks of the decorative works of the Rococo artists Noel Nicolas Coypel and Honoré Fragonard. A dramatic clash of light and shade catches one's attention in The Driving of the Money-Changers from the Temple by Jean Valentin, a follower of Caravaggio. Jean-Baptiste Greuze's painting The Paralytic evoked the admiration of the philosopher Diderot: "This painting is good, so good, and woe to anyone who even for an instant can view it with dispassion!". |
