Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice is a monumental oil on canvas created by the influential French classical painter Nicolas Poussin, likely between 1650 and 1674. Executed in Poussin’s characteristically structured and intellectual style, the painting exemplifies the High Classicism that dominated French art in the 17th century, though the artist was based primarily in Rome.

This piece illustrates the tragic mythological narrative of the famed musician Orpheus and his wife, Eurydice. Poussin sets the action within a meticulously organized, sprawling landscape, where the vast forests serve as both a backdrop to the drama and a defining element of the composition’s classical rigor. Orpheus is depicted seated, identifiable by the lyre resting beside him, symbolizing his artistry and the desperate music he played to retrieve his lost love. The subtle placement of Eurydice amidst the other figures underscores the theme of fleeting beauty and inevitable loss inherent in the myth.

Unlike the dynamism of contemporary Baroque works, Poussin favored rational composition (disegno) over immediate emotion, using architecture and carefully positioned figures to emphasize moral and emotional weight. This mature work, celebrated for its balanced structure and clarity of purpose, resides within the extensive European Paintings collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. As a canonical example of French Classicism, reproductions and high-quality prints of Poussin's Orpheus and Eurydice remain significant study materials, accessible globally through the public domain of art historical resources.