The 17th century: the invention of an official national style
This exhibition reveals the century in all its rich diversity,
from the moral rigour and harmony characteristic of Poussin to
the stylish elegance and beauty of works by artists as diverse
as Vouet, La Hyre and Bourdon. Through this synthesis of
‘languages’ and styles, the French sought to forge an official
national style that could express unity and power, transcend and
become a universal standard. Vouet and Poussin are represented
with exemplary works that document this universal French style.
Allegory of Prudence, painted in his mature period c. 1645, is
an interesting example of Vouet’s noble style combining a
rhythmic gathering of figures and sublime palette of brilliant
colour, conceived as a part of a large decorative cycle for Anne
of Austria’s apartments in the Palais Royal in Paris. Poussin —
represented with a wonderful Venus and Adonis painted after his
arrival in Rome in 1624 — is the father of French painting, and
the hero of some of