Poussin and Optics: Reflections on the Lake in “a Calm”
abstract
Poussin’s biographers emphasised the importance of his study of optics and, particularly, of his study of Zaccolini’s treatises. Through a close examination of the reflections on the surface of the lake in Landscape with a Calm, we will show how Poussin’s mastery of catoptrics (the science of mirrors) guides the viewers’ experience and provides a key to the function of the lake as the central focus of the picture.
Keywords: Poussin • Optics • Zaccolini • Light and shadow • Landscape • Seicento painting