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Student at Drexel University EssayWhile the Philadelphia Museum of Art may not house virtually of the more famous artwork from the Baroque period, their acquisition of Poussins Birth of Venus was nothing short of a savvy purchase. Hungry for Western currency, the pic was sold by the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg in 1930 under the Soviet Regime to the PMA. In their possession is arguably one of the most hotly debated works from that era. Also aptly named The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite this picture not only highlights Poussins trademark ability to aloneow for an open interpretation of his depictions just also encourages an allegorical analysis of the many elements present in his composition. The very ambiguities of this painting, and his others, emphasizes Poussins capacity to express the concepts or overall ideas of things and events themselves date not concentrating on the minutia while still allowing for translation. Before one can cost an iconological interp retation of Poussins work, one must also understand his betimes training, influences and subsequent ideology to grasp his use of deep symbolism and line. In his early c arer working with Italian poet Giambattista Marino, Nicolas Poussin was commissioned to illustrate Ovidian poetry subsequently establishing the ideals of Metamorphoses themes and motifs prominent in The Birth of Venus.36 This was also important in evolution his ability to intimately tie literature to painting.1 Poussin grew to heavily favor Disegno over Colore, or design over color which can be seen in all of his works36. His ideology proposed that design, form and line were more important than the colors and dcor of the traditional Baroque french art of the time. This very dogma split French Renaissance Art 200 years after his death in which factions of his study (Poussinistes) proposed that drawing was superior to color (Rubnistes)6. Poussinsholistic and classical attempt was his attempt to reach the highest a im of painting the representation of the magnificent. He intended to only focus on great events, battles and divine matters. In this way, Poussins make full on Roman Classicism eventually contributed to the aesthetic style of Grand Matter36.His method of Ideal or Heroic Landscape, which drew upon the perspectives of rhetoric, utopianism, drama and metaphysics allowed him to coherently make elements as seen in the Birth of Venus. The very nature and composition of Poussins works highlights the realm of Baroque Classicism in which the arrangement of the carnal is paramount to reflecting the rationality of an ideal and eternal world. His fascination with god and mythology sans Christianity also can be seen in his rejection of Neoplatonism and his use of Epicurean interpretation5. Indeed, Poussin was not the first artificer to depict Venus physica (terrestrial Venus). Nearly a century and a half prior to Poussins painting, Italian painter Sandro Boticelli composed a similar paintin g also named The Birth of Venus (1485)6. While there are some similarities to Boticellis painting, Poussins succeeds a more Epicurean interpretation rather than a Neoplatonistic one. In addition, 20 years after Boticellis work, another Italian painter created another piece of art that depicts Venus in a elan more similar to Poussins (The Triumph of Galatea)6.The Birth of Venus by Boticelli (1485)The Triumph of Galatea by Raphael (1514)Both of these paintings, while somewhat similar, only reinforce some of the symbolic clues left by Poussin in his own depictionThe Birth of Venus or The Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite by Poussin (1635) As we gaze over Poussins work of art we notice a great many things. First and foremost, as we know of his attention to localisation, the nerve centermost and brightest subject is of a nude female deity. A time-frozen, windswept pink shroud is cast upon her naked body while she rides on top of dolphins harnessed by her and the cupid-like boy under her. Poussins placement of Her is crucial because it highlights Her very significance in the scene she is centered as her male counterpart is seemingly subordinate and pictoriallyoff to the side. Around her are Tritons and Nerreds and above are cupid-like babies adorning her with thrills. The inspiration for the placement and formation of the goddess can be seen by the earlier paintings of Boticelli and Raphael. In each painting the deity in the center is shielded by a billowing cloth of pink/red. In addition, Poussin chose to have the woman deity ride in on dolphins similar to that of Raphaels composition.Because there are two official names for this painting, one thing must be addressed before moving on, Is this a depiction of the contain of Venus or the triumph of Amphitrite?. Amphitrite is the Greek ocean-goddess and wife of Poseidon while Venus is the Roman goddess of love, two different characters that share no parallels. There is some kindle evidence to support that the pa inting is indeed Venus birth. In both The Triumph of Galatea and The Birth of Venus, Venus is not only riding on dolphins but also has her son Cupid below her also harnessing the sea beasts3456. Furthermore in Boticellis painting and in Poussins, the woman deity is being adorned with myrtle, the flower most commonly associated with Venus, goddess of love myrtle too is a symbol of love6. Additionally, Poussin employs his knowledge of Apulerius in Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass of which the story describes Venus as being accompanied by a band of fellow beings singing and blowing horns24.The comparison between the Apulerius text and Poussins painting are fascinating, there are a band of fellow beings surrounding Venus in the form of Tritons and Nerreds, two of which are blowing horns. In Metamorphoses, Apulerius merely depicts the triumph of a Venus while Poussin paints her genesis2. Seen in the warm clouds above, riding on a chariot in the sky by six doves is the infant form of Venu s. On her journey to institution she encounters transformation which is signified by the dark storm clouds above. This is painted to contrast the entire tone of the painting so markedly that it bears a special meaning. Poussin over again employs his usage of literary interpretation in the form of Lucretius didactic poem De rerum natura or On the Nature of Things4. In this poems prologue, there lies a single significant line Te dea, te fugiunt venti, Te nubile caeli Adventumque tuum. This translates to Thee, goddess flee you, the wind, cloudy skies, and your arrival. 4 Which means that the winds and clouds part in anticipation of a goddess, shown in the picture. In Poussins depiction, he portrays Venus as being propelled by thewinds just as in Boticellis work.These pieces of literary and visual evidence provide basis that the central female deity in Poussins painting is in fact Roman goddess Venus. To the left of Venus is a male deity riding on hippocamps or seahorses, it is not ea sily discernible however if he is to be depicted as Neptune the Roman god of freshwater and sea or Poseidon, Greek god of the ocean. Both counterparts are known as god of the horses and horse tamer respectively and each wields a trident6. In regards to the berth of the painting, Poussin uses the method of Ideal Landscape6 in which he represents the locale but not exactly. It was important that the setting did not exactly reflect or imitate a real place in its entirety but to highlight the divinity, magnificence and importance of the event or subject in an effort to not bother the audience. However, Poussin did provide a small piece of evidence in the form of a spilling vase at the base of the painting. This could symbolize a river near a cragged island in the Mediterranean. Evidence has shown that the archaeological site of Paphos (a mountainous island of Cyprus) is near the mouth of the Bocarus River which could very well be the paintings setting 45.Works Cited1 Janson, Anthony. Jansons History of Art . eighth ed. Pearson, 2011. Print.2Moore, Brooks. Ovids Metamorphoses. 1st. New York, NY Marshall Jones Company, 1933. Print.3 Nicolas Poussin Biography. Nicholas Poussin The Complete Works. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Aug 2013. .4 Phelan, Joseph. Poussin and the Heroic Landscape.ArtCyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Aug 2013.5 Sommer, Frank H. . Poussins Triumph of Neptune and Amphitrite A Re- Identification. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 24.3 (1961) 323-327. Print.6 Verdi, Richard. Nicolas Poussin. Encyclopedia Britannica. .