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Poussin, Nicolas (1594-1665)

The dance to the music of time

c. 1640

Oil on canvas

84.8 x 107.6 cm

There are the beings of heaven and the beings of earth, there are the angels,the muses and the gods with many faces. They are either fixed as a statue, linked in a dance or represented in the heavens. With the chariot of God and all. The one with the wings is time. He plays the harp, making the harmony and the music that all the others maintain and dance to, be it in heaven , be it on earth. It makes no difference: each and all are subdued by the tune of time. It is an old man but he is the one directing, setting the tone. He flies, he has wings, he is the eldest. What else is there but the direction of time? It is God Himself, that directing old man of time, it is father Time we should not forget as the one directing our divine and earthly cultural dances is what Poussin reminds us of.

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© Time Art Gallery/hall 4