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Circle of Nicolas Poussin(Les Andelys 1594-1665 Rome)Blind Man's Buff
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Circle of Nicolas Poussin (Les Andelys 1594-1665 Rome)
black chalk, pen and brown ink on brown paper
12.5 x 19.8cm (4 15/16 x 7 13/16in).
Footnotes
The subject of the present drawing is taken from Giovanni Battista Guarini's Il Pastor Fido, first published in 1590. The game of Blind Man's Buff depicts the kissing competition organized by the nymph Amaryllis.
The scene is set in Arcadia, where Guarini supposes it to have been the custom to sacrifice a maiden yearly to Diana. An oracle had apparently declared that when two scions of a divine lineage are united in marriage, and a faithful shepherd has atoned for the ancient error of a faithless woman, this inhuman rite shall cease. The plot turns upon the unexpected fulfilment of this prophecy.
