This illustrated talk will focus on five exceptional paintings by Nicolas Poussin: A Dance to the Music of Time (Wallace Collection) and the final works which crowned his career: The Four Seasons (Musée du Louvre).

In the case of Dance these themes are presented under the guise of classical mythology, whereas in The Four Seasons, they are framed in terms of Biblical eschatology, the cycles of nature and of human life. Though differing markedly in mode, and dating respectively from the 1630s and the 1660s, in both cases they explore the relationship between our mortal and immortal destinies.

While the authority of these compositions derives from Poussin’s subtle deployment of number, geometry and harmonics in their deep structure, what is immediately engaging to the viewer is his power to invoke human dramas and the beauties of nature, while haunting us with his often enigmatic symbolism. 

Julia Cleave is an independent scholar with a special interest in the Pythagorean, Hermetic and Christian Mystery traditions as they are to be found, still largely unacknowledged, in Renaissance and Early Modern art and literature. Her previous lectures at Temenos, have included studies of works by Verrocchio, Leonardo, Botticelli, Giorgione and Poussin, and of three plays by Shakespeare. Her essay: ‘An alchemical reading of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra’ is available on the Temenos Academy website. She is a Fellow of the Academy and a member of the Council and Academic Board.

In the Chair: Christine Rhone.

Venue & Admission
18 Lincoln’ Inn Fields
London, WC2A 3ED
Doors Open 6.10pm, Lecture Begins 6.30pm
£10 General Admission
FREE for Temenos Academy Members/Full-time students with student ID card