Nicolas Poussin

For this portrait, Duquesnoy opted for a relatively small bust section, which effectively shows the sitter’s aristocratically carved, melancholy face, and his stylish moustache and beard. The physiognomic details and the surface of the skin are rendered with the utmost delicacy and sensitivity; they contrast with the long, wavy hair framing the face. Comparison with self-portraits by the painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) makes it highly probable that the bust is a portrait of the artist, who was already famous in his own lifetime. Duquesnoy was a close friend of Poussin’s and, like the French artist, spent most of his life in Rome.