"Verdi focuses on the French baroque painter's compositional and coloristic strategies. The intellectual framework for Poussin's severe classicism has been thoroughly examined by other scholars, but Verdi's careful visual examination of all of Poussin's paintings in the original allowed him to reassess Poussin's formal qualities and the inventiveness of his compositions. Poussin's color, which has been either criticized or ignored in previous scholarship, is one of the focuses of Verdi's analysis. Poussin used color to convey meaning and bolster his narrative with the triad of primary colors and white--a restricted palette that served as a building block for his compositions. Poussin's variations on pose and gesture are similar to classical modes, which refer to the measure and form of things in moderation. Verdi concludes with a reassessment of Poussin's serene, balanced landscapes and a summary of his influence on posterity. Recommended.".
Poussin As a Painter : From Classicism to Abstraction