Nicolas Poussin (; 15 June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century. Until the 20th century he remained the major inspiration for such classically oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.
He spent most of his working life in Rome, except for a short period when Cardinal Richelieu ordered him back to France to serve as First Painter to the King.
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“Nature never said to me: Do not be poor; still less did she say: Be rich; her cry to me was always: Be independent.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)