Echo and Narcissus (Poussin)

Echo and Narcissus is a painting by French painter Nicolas Poussin. this oil painting measures 74 by 100 cm. It was painted between 1627 and 1628 and is kept in the Louvre museum in Paris.

Echo and Narcissus
Écho et Narcisse
ArtistNicolas Poussin
Year1627
Mediumoil on canvas
Dimensions74 cm × 100 cm (29 in × 39 in)
LocationLouvre

The myth

The work derives from Greek Mythology. According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, the nymph Echo fell in love with Narcissus, but he rejected her. Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance, punished Narcissus by making fall in love with his own image reflected in a source, consuming himself with love for himself.

At the place where he died, pushed the flower that bears his name: Narcissus.

The painting

Poussin illustrates this myth by representing three characters in an idyllic landscape: in the foreground, Narcissus, lying down; behind him, on the right, Eros, god of love; and on the left, sitting on a rock, Echo. Around the hair of young Narcissus are already blooming flowers to which he gave his name. Echo, leaning on a rock, seems "an elegiac and immaterial apparition".[1]

See also

References
  1. (in Spanish) Andreas Prater, “El Barroco” en Los maestros de la pintura occidental, Taschen, 2005, p.246, ISBN 3-8228-4744-5
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