Et in Arcadia ego (Poussin)
Et in Arcadia ego is a 1637–38 painting by Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665), the leading painter of the classical French Baroque style. It depicts a pastoral scene with idealized shepherds from classical antiquity, and a woman, possibly a shepherdess, gathered around an austere tomb that includes the Latin inscription "Et in Arcadia ego", which is translated to "Even in Arcadia, there am I"; "Also in Arcadia am I"; or "I too was in Arcadia". Poussin also painted another version of the subject in 1627 under the same title.
Et in Arcadia ego (Poussin)
Guercino's version of the subject (c. 1618–1622)
Poussin's 1627 version of the Et in Arcadia ego, in Chatsworth House, depicting a different tomb with the same inscription
The Shugborough relief, adapted from an engraving of Poussin's second version
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscape in his paintings. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne.
Self-portrait by Poussin, 1650
Death of Germanicus, 1628, Minneapolis Institute of Art
Venus and Adonis, c. 1628–1629, Kimbell Art Museum
The Inspiration of the Poet, 1629–30, Louvre