Greek Mythology and Nicolas Poussin

On April 26 2013 I visited the Detroit Art Institute. In there I have seen plenty of interesting art sculptures, artifacts, and paintings. The one that really enjoyed the most is “Selene and Endymion” by Nicolas Poussin, a French artist. He made this painting back in 1630. Currently, the painting is in the European paintings exhibit section in the DIA. The painting itself uses oil on canvas for its medium, and the dimensions are: 48 x 66 1/2 inches. The painting is about Selene and Endymion. Selene is a Greek goddess who happens to fall in love with farmer named Endymion. Selene knows Endymion will age and pass away eventually due to him being a mortal, so she asked Zeus to make him immortal to prevent her lover from aging and dying. Zeus accepted the request on the condition that he is put in eternal sleep instead. Endymion loved Selene so much that he was willing to do it in order to be with her forever. Thus the couples wish was granted and Endymion was with Selene, in a slumber forever. The art shows forms by using contours and dynamic elements. The contour of the characters and the background shows surfaces giving it some mass. The picture also shows Helios and Eos moving towards the left side and Endymion kneeling towards Selene, these dynamics gives the picture mass and dimensions. The painting uses a great deal of values as well. On the right side of the painting, it uses a darker value compared to the left side of the painting. This is to show and represent day, dawn, and night on the art picture. Another use of values is used to show the distances in the background. As we can see the deities Eos and Helios are in a darker shade compared to Endymion and Selene, this is to show the distances between them. Lastly, the painting use values to show shadows and mass, giving the picture forms and dimensions. Time itself is used as another visual element. The art uses time as a way to capture a moment in time. As mentioned before, we see Helios and Eos