Grand Siècle, classical order and interior light · around 1600 -1700

Poussin, Claude Lorrain, Georges de La Tour and Philippe de Champaigne give the Grand Siècle several paths: classic story, luminous landscape, silent night and spiritual portrait share measure and intensity.

French painting of the 17th century developed between Paris, the provinces, Rome and the court of Louis XIV. It is not confused with a single formula. Simon Vouet brings back a ample and colorful decor from Italy; Nicolas Poussin and Claude Lorrain choose to work sustainably in Rome, where Antiquity and the landscape structure their art. Poussin organizes history through gestures, intervals and readable groups. In Saints Peter and John healing the paralytic, moral action unfolds like human architecture. Claude Lorrain gives the landscape new autonomy. The sunrise transforms port, ruin and figures into stages of a light which seems to construct space. Georges de La Tour follows a narrower path. In La Madeleine à la nouveuse, the flame, the skull and the silence reduce the narration to an interior meditation. Philippe de Champaigne combines portrait precision and spiritual austerity, particularly in his works linked to Port-Royal. Charles Le Brun represents another dimension of the Grand Siècle: the king's first painter, he coordinates large decorations, gestures and allegories in the service of the monarchy. The Royal Academy, founded in 1648, helped to prioritize genres and to create drawing, expression and the history of public principles. The Royal Academy, founded in 1648, helped to prioritize genres and to create drawing, expression and the history of public principles. The Royal Academy, founded in 1648, helped to prioritize genres and to create drawing, expression and the history of public principles. French Baroque thus often appears contained by a desire for classical order. However, light, emotion and staging remain essential. The collection allows us to compare these balances, from the open landscape to the nocturnal room, from the biblical miracle to the devotional portrait. The "French Baroque" selection notably compares Saints Peter and John healing the paralytic - Nicolas Poussin and Sunrise - Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée). His reading favors light.

The French baroque often retains the outburst to better concentrate the effect: a gesture in Poussin, a sun in Claude or a flame in La Tour is enough to order the whole picture.