Nicolas Poussin was born at Les Andelys in Normandy in 1594. He received early instruction from the painter Quentin Varin before leaving Normandy for Paris.
Poussin moved to Paris in 1612. There he worked in the studios of Georges Lallemant and Ferdinand Elle and encountered reproductions of works by Raphael and Giulio Romano.
Raphael became an enduring influence upon Poussin. The younger artist was particularly interested in the organization of complex narrative compositions and the use of gesture to communicate human action.
Poussin attempted more than once to reach Italy before finally succeeding. In 1624 he traveled to Rome, where he would spend most of the remainder of his life.
Rome provided Poussin with access to ancient sculpture, architecture, Renaissance painting, and an international community of scholars and collectors. He studied antique remains closely and drew from ancient sculpture.
The poet Giovanni Battista Marino helped introduce Poussin to important Roman patrons. These connections eventually brought commissions from members of the Barberini family and other prominent collectors.
During the 1620s Poussin experimented with several approaches to painting. Venetian color, particularly the example of Titian, influenced some of his early Roman works.
At the same time, Poussin increasingly developed the carefully organized approach to narrative that became characteristic of his mature work. Biblical, mythological, and historical subjects were treated with similar attention to gesture and composition.
In 1632 Poussin became a member of the Accademia di San Luca. By this period he had established himself among important Roman collectors and intellectuals.
One of his most important patrons was the scholar and antiquarian Cassiano dal Pozzo. For him Poussin created the first of two painted series devoted to the Seven Sacraments.
These paintings allowed Poussin to combine biblical events with the sacramental theology of the seventeenth-century church. The series included subjects such as the Baptism of Christ and the Last Supper.
Poussin also produced major Old Testament paintings during the 1630s. Episodes involving Moses became particularly important in his work.
In 1640 Poussin returned reluctantly to France at the invitation of King Louis XIII. He was appointed First Painter to the King and was expected to participate in large decorative projects for the French court.
The administrative demands and collaborative nature of these projects did not suit him. In 1642 Poussin obtained permission to return to Rome and did not permanently return to France.
During his later career he continued to work primarily for private patrons. His paintings became increasingly reflective and frequently incorporated landscape as an important component of historical or biblical meaning.
Among his final major achievements was the series known as The Four Seasons. Each landscape incorporates a biblical subject while also functioning as an allegorical meditation upon nature, human history, and divine order.
Poussin died in Rome in 1665 and was buried in the church of San Lorenzo in Lucina. His disciplined approach to composition and biblical narrative profoundly influenced later French and European painting.