Clear and distinct ideas

Nicholas Poussin, Eliëzer and Rebecca, 1684

In France the paintings of Poussin are often considered as the artistic counterpart of the philosophy of Descartes. In both their work rules clearness, 'des idées claires et distinctes' , distinctness and rationality, as in a mathematical-geometrical plan one detail goes over into an other to give significance to the events. The subjective contribution of the spectator is also reflected: in the painting above the pillar with a globe on the right and the high building on the left have through symmetry and similarity a relationship with each other. Through this the perspective space is flattened. Depth appears in the contemplation of the spectator, it can be forwarded but also ignored by favouring the action of the different levels.