83 Presentation in the Temple
Pen and brown ink and brown wash; H: 14. 9 cm (5^7 /s in.);
W: 10.9 cm (4I/4in.)
84.GA.66y
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner, in-
ventory number 2536 and paraph of Pierre Crozat (?)
(L. 2951) in brown ink; at bottom right corner, inscribed
Poussin in brown ink by a later hand.PROVENANCE: Pierre Crozat(?), Paris; Georges Wilden-
stein, New York; Daniel Wildenstein, New York.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: P.-J. Mariette, Description de la collection
Crozat (reprint of 1741, 1750, and 1751 edns.) (Geneva,
1973), p- 112, no. 966(P); W. Friedlander and A. Blunt,
The Drawings of Nicolas Poussin—Catalogue Raisonne,
vol. 5 (London, 1974), p. 76, no. 396.THIS DRAWING CANNOT BE CONNECTED WITH ANY
painting by Poussin, though it has the appearance of a
preparatory study. There is a drawing of the same theme,
perhaps by a follower, in the Fogg Art Museum, Cam-
bridge (inv. 1941.13; Friedlander and Blunt 1974, no.
B 53). Although similar in many respects, that composi-
tion contains alterations from the Museum's study that
diminish the carefully orchestrated balance of form and
tone, thereby reducing the effect of visual and intellectual
concentration. The Museum's drawing is characteristic
of Poussin's mature style, not only in these qualities but
also in the featureless geometry of faces and the broad
application of wash. A drawing of this subject by Pous-
sin, which may well have been this one, was in Pierre
Crozat's collection (Mariette 1973, p. 112).l86 FRENCH SCHOOL • POUSSIN