Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History


    • Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun, 1658
    Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
    Oil on canvas; 46 7/8 x 72 in. (119.1 x 182.9 cm)
    Fletcher Fund, 1924 (24.45.1)

    For his depiction of the gigantic hunter, Poussin drew on the Greek writer Lucian (De domo 27–29): "Orion, who is blind, is carrying Cedalion, and the latter, riding on his back, is showing him the way to the sunlight. The rising sun is healing [his] blindness." Poussin also studied a sixteenth-century commentary on the tale by Natalis Comes, which offers a meteorological interpretation. Accordingly he added Diana, standing upon the clouds that wreathe Orion's face, symbol of the power of the moon to gather the earth's vapors and turn them into rain. Toward the end of his life, Poussin scrutinized pebbles, moss, flowers, and plants, and his landscapes—such as this one, painted for Michel Passart in 1658—evoke the earth's early history in showing nature abundant and uncultivated.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Thompson, James. "Nicolas Poussin." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 50, no. 3 (Winter, 1992–93).
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    • On view: Gallery 617
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    • Blind Orion Searching for the Rising Sun, 1658
    Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594–1665)
    Oil on canvas; 46 7/8 x 72 in. (119.1 x 182.9 cm)
    Fletcher Fund, 1924 (24.45.1)

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