The Adoration of the Golden Calf

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The Adoration of the Golden Calf
Nicolas Poussin - The Adoration of the Golden Calf - WGA18293.jpg
Artist Nicolas Poussin
Year1633–1634
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions154 cm× 214 cm(61 in× 84 in)
Location National Gallery, London

The Adoration of the Golden Calf is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It depicts the adoration of the golden calf by the Israelites, from chapter 32 of the Book of Exodus. It was made as part of a pair of paintings (the other being The Crossing of the Red Sea ) commissioned by Amadeo dal Pozzo, Marchese di Voghera of Turin, a cousin to Cassiano dal Pozzo, Poussin's main sponsor in Rome. By 1685 the pair had passed to the Chevalier de Lorraine and in 1710 they were bought by Benigne de Ragois de Bretonvillers. In 1741 they were bought from Samuel by Sir Jacob Bouverie, whose son William became the first Earl of Radnor. The Earls of Radnor owned the pair from then until 1945, when it was split for the first time and The Adoration of the Golden Calf bought by the National Gallery in London for £10,000, half of which was contributed by the Art Fund. [1] (The Crossing of the Red Sea was bought in the same 1945 sale by the National Gallery of Victoria.) It now hangs in Room 19 of the National Gallery, where it and Poussin's The Adoration of the Shepherds were vandalised with red spray paint on 17 July 2011. [2] [3] The French-speaking vandal covered up most of the nude figures. [2]

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<i>Adoration of the Shepherds</i> (Poussin) Painting by Nicolas Poussin

The Adoration of the Shepherds is a painting of 1633–34 by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), now in the National Gallery, London. It is in oils on canvas, and measures 97.2 by 74 centimetres. Unusually for Poussin, it is signed "N. Pusin.fe" ["fecit"] on the stone at lower right. By 1637, soon after it was painted, it was owned by Cardinal Gian Carlo de' Medici (1611–1663), the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Tuscany and was placed in his villa outside Florence.

<i>The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus</i> (Poussin) Painting by Nicolas Poussin

The Martyrdom of Saint Erasmus is an altarpiece, painted by Nicolas Poussin in 1628–1629, originally displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.

<i>The Battle between the Israelites and the Amorites</i> Painting by Nicolas Poussin

The Battle between the Israelites and the Amorites, Joshua's Battle Against the Amorites or Joshua's Victory over the Amorites is a c. 1625 oil-on-canvas painting by the French artist Nicolas Poussin, now in the Pushkin Museum, in Moscow.

<i>Joshuas Battle against the Amalekites</i> Painting by Nicolas Poussin

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<i>Cephalus and Aurora</i> (Poussin)

Cephalus and Aurora is the title of two oil paintings by Nicolas Poussin, both dated to about 1629 or 1630. The first is in the National Gallery, London; the second belongs to the Worsley baronets, of Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire.

<i>The Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine</i> (Poussin)

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References

  1. "The Adoration of the Golden Calf by Nicolas Poussin".
  2. 1 2 Wilson, Cherry (16 July 2011). "Man held after Poussin painting is vandalised at National Gallery". The Observer . Archived from the original on 10 May 2021.
  3. "Poussin paintings vandalised at National Gallery". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021.