The Sacrament of Ordination (Christ Presenting the Keys to Saint Peter)

The Sacrament of Ordination is from Poussin’s first series depicting each of the Seven Sacraments, which is among the most celebrated groups of paintings in the entire history of art. The set was commissioned in the mid-to-late 1630s by one of Poussin’s closest friends and patrons, the Roman collector and antiquary Cassiano dal Pozzo, secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Cassiano’s learned interests undoubtedly inspired the uncommon subject—a theme that explored the core rites of Christian life leading to salvation. To illustrate the sacrament of ordination—the taking of holy orders to become a priest, deacon, or bishop—Poussin depicted the gospel account of Christ giving the keys of heaven and earth to the kneeling apostle Peter, showing the authority vested in him as head of the Roman church: “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church . . . I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 16:18–19). Poussin charges his magisterial composition with the varied emotions and gestures of each apostle.

The frieze of figures is arrayed before a landscape with a canopy of trees. This splendid backdrop shows Poussin’s admiration of Venetian masters such as Titian, whose landscape backgrounds with sensuous brushwork and rich colors he had studied in Roman collections. The men discoursing in the distance and another reading a book at the far left may refer to the theme of the grove of ancient philosophers. They recall the old order that gives way to the new order instituted by Christ. The figure at the far right, with his face obscured in shadow, is Judas Iscariot, who will betray Christ. The tree directly above him, unlike the other eleven, is withered and leafless.

In 1785, Charles Manners, 4th Duke of Rutland, purchased the Seven Sacraments from the heirs of Cassiano dal Pozzo; after a triumphant reception in London, the paintings were housed at Belvoir Castle, the duke’s ancestral home in Leicestershire. The duke had consulted the English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, who proclaimed the series to be “the greatest work of Poussin, who was certainly one of the greatest Painters that ever lived.” Of the original seven paintings, the present Duke of Rutland retains the four that represent the rites of confirmation, the Eucharist (Communion), extreme unction (the last rites), and marriage. The painting devoted to penance (or confession) was destroyed in a disastrous fire at Belvoir in 1816. The final work in the series, now called The Baptism of Christ, was acquired by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, in 1946.

Poussin occupies a central place in the history of art. Born in France, he spent most of his career in Rome. His paintings provided the foundation for the great French tradition of classical art and nurtured the neoclassicism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Generations of artists, from Jacques-Louis David to Paul Cézanne and beyond, have drawn inspiration and measured their own achievements against the towering art of Poussin.