# Bacchanal

**Nicolas Poussin** (French, 1594–1665)  
ca. 1635–36  
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over faint black chalk  
5 1/4 x 8 1/8 in. (13.3 x 20.6 cm.)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1998.225. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/335240).

## About this work

Nicolas Poussin drew this in about 1635–36. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Chalk.** Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
- **Pen and ink.** Drawn with a quill or reed pen, often with wash added by brush to model light and shadow.

### [Nicolas Poussin](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/nicolas-poussin)

French, 1594–1665; born in Les Andelys; died in Rome

Poussin left Normandy for Paris and in 1624 settled in Rome, where he spent almost all his career. After an early public commission for St Peter’s, he worked mainly for private collectors on easel paintings of classical, biblical and mythological subjects, ordered with rigorous clarity and reasoned gesture. A brief, unhappy spell as court painter in Paris in 1640–42 confirmed his preference for Rome. His later landscapes give nature a calm, architectural order, and his example became the touchstone of the French Academy.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Drawings
- Real size: about 5 × 8 in (13 × 21 cm). The original is small: even the 8 × 10 in print shows it larger than life.
- Century: 16th century
- Subjects: Women, Satyrs, Goats
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/994.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/994/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/bacchanal-met-335240).