Midas Washing at the Source of the Pactolus, 1624
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
Oil on canvas; 38 3/8 x 28 5/8 in. (97.5 x 72.7 cm)
Purchase, 1871 (71.56)
Technical Glossary
Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
Oil on canvas; 38 3/8 x 28 5/8 in. (97.5 x 72.7 cm)
Purchase, 1871 (71.56)
Poussin was drawn to the story of Midas, an allegory of vanity (Ovid, Metamorphoses XI:100–145). Bacchus offered Midas a gift, and the king asked that everything he touched be turned to gold. Soon realizing that he could neither eat nor drink, he asked to be relieved of the gift, and Bacchus sent him to wash it away in the Pactolus River. Partly submerged in water, Midas is dominated here by the personification of a river god. The picture was painted not long after Poussin arrived in Rome in 1624.
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Related Index Terms
Artist
Material and Technique
- • Painting, Oil on Canvas
- • Painting, Oil on Canvas, Europe
- • Painting, Oil on Canvas, Europe, France
Subject Matter/Theme
- • Figure, Allegorical
- • Figure, Deity
- • Figure, Deity, Greek and Roman
- • Figure, Deity, Greek and Roman, Other
- • Figure, Mythological
- • Figure, Mythological, Europe
- • Figure, Mythological, Europe, Other
- • Literature and Literary Connections
- • Literature and Literary Connections, Greek Poetry
- • Literature and Literary Connections, Greek Poetry, Ovid: Metamorphoses
