Confirmation (c.16371640) by Nicolas Poussin is part of the artists renowned Seven Sacraments series. This painting holds a central place in the history of Western art, created by an artist regarded as a pivotal figure in the history of art in general. Touching on both spiritual and social themes, the works inclusion in Abu Dhabis Masterpieces Collection aims to attract a new global audience and to inspire future generations.
This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the work, aimed at non-specialist readers with an interest in art and art history. Pierre Rosenbergs essay comprises an in-depth study of the Confirmation and the Seven Sacraments series within Poussins uvre, while Sheila McTighe analyses the notion of painting as mute poetry, aligning his work with the art of Raphael, Carracci and Domenichino. Together, these two renowned scholars texts provide a lucid and accessible account of this great, challenging work, accompanied by extensive illustration of the Confirmation itself, other works by Poussin, and both his precursors and contemporaries.
Pierre Rosenberg is a French art historian, curator and professor. He is the Honorary President and Director of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and since 1995 he has held the 23rd seat of the Académie Française. His career at the Louvre began in 1962, when he joined the Department of Paintings as an Assistant Curator. He was promoted to Curator and became the museums Director and President in 1994. By then he had acquired international prestige as a specialist in French painting and drawing of the 17th and 18th centuries. Among his many books, works on Poussin, Chardin, and Fragonard have become classics in the field. He is the author of catalogues of the drawings of important painters such as Poussin, Watteau and David, as well as of public and private collections of art. He was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge in 1987. Sheila McTighe is an independent art historian who was Senior Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. She joined the Courtauld in 1998 after teaching at Cornell and Columbia Universities. Her current research is on the correspondence of Nicolas Poussin, working towards the first English translation of all the artists letters. Her other interests include print culture and the early modern arts, Caravaggio, Jacques Callot and etching in the 17th century, and the techniques of painting and printmaking.
