Study for 'A Dance to the Music of Time'

Nicolas Poussin (1594 - 1665)

Scottish National Gallery

circa 1634

This is the only surviving drawing by Poussin for the painting A Dance to the Music of Time, now in the Wallace Collection, London. The picture is a moral allegory on the subjection of all human life to the rule of time. The dance is being performed to the lyre of Father Time and two putti are seen playing with an hourglass and blowing bubbles respectively. It depicts a circle of man's fortune with the allegorical figures of Poverty, Industry, Riches and Pleasure forming a circular movement. Above, the Sun is driving his chariot through the zodiac.

• Medium: pen, brown ink & brown wash on paper
• Dimensions: 14.8 x 19.8cm
• Art Fund Grant: £50000 ( Total: £160,000)
• ArtFunded in: 1985
• Vendor: Christopher Loyd Charitable Trust

Provenance

Commissioned in 1639 by Cardinal Guilio Rospogliosi; P. Crozat; P.Mariette; Lord Overstone; Christopher Lloyd.

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