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Why did Nicolas Poussin return to Rome in 1642?
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Nicolas Poussin
Adoration of the Golden Calf, oil on canvas by Nicolas Poussin, c. 1634. 153.4 × 211.8 cm.
Nicolas Poussin returned to Rome in 1642 primarily because he was deeply unhappy with his tenure in Paris, where he had been summoned to work for King Louis XIII in 1640.1
As First Painter to the King, Poussin found the diverse range of royal commissions and the necessity of working with a team of assistants to be detrimental to his creative integrity and independence. Seeking to escape these frustrations, he secured permission to return to Rome in 1642, ostensibly for the purpose of fetching his wife. Following the subsequent deaths of his patron, Cardinal Richelieu, and the king, Poussin was effectively released from his obligations to the French court and remained in Rome for the rest of his life.1