Extreme Unction (recto)

The drawing Extreme Unction (recto) by Nicolas Poussin, created between 1643 and 1644, is a critical preparatory study related to one of the artist’s most significant commissions: the second series of the Seven Sacraments, painted for his patron Paul Fréart de Chantelou. Executed primarily in pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, the drawing showcases Poussin’s masterful control over line and tone. He used the wash expertly to define the architectural space and model the figures, emphasizing dramatic contrast and sculptural form essential to his classical aesthetic.

This piece depicts the Roman Catholic sacrament administered to the dying, a poignant scene characterized by solemnity and restraint. Poussin, though a foundational figure in French art, lived and worked primarily in Rome, where he refined his signature style rooted in ancient Roman sculpture and High Renaissance masters. Typical of his classicism, the figures are arranged in a structured, frieze-like composition, avoiding the emotional turbulence often favored by his Baroque contemporaries. The rational clarity and orderly arrangement underscore the spiritual weight of the subject matter.

As a drawing, this work provides valuable insight into Poussin’s meticulous planning process before transferring the composition to canvas. The careful deliberation demonstrated in this study helped cement the artist's status as the leading intellectual painter of his generation. This distinguished example of French seventeenth-century draftsmanship resides in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it remains a vital reference point for the study of the preparatory methods of one of art history’s great classicists.