Poussin’s Landscape with St. John on Patmos (1640)
Poussin, Landscape with St. John on Patmos (1640) Oil on canvas. Art Institute of Chicago
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This painting hardly needs any explanation. The viewer should recognize that the figure of St. John "writing" on Patmos resembles the figure of an artist drawing a landscape.
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Durer, Watermill in the Mountains with an Artist (1495)
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There is a not dissimilar drawing by Durer of a young artist sketching a rocky landscape in which the draughtsman is likewise dwarfed by the scene. Durer then adjusted the shape of his monogram to echo that of the artist to indicate, as here, that the artist is his alter ego.
Detail of image at left
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Thus, as in all significant scenes by poetic painters, the setting is in the artist’s mind with Poussin imagining himself as the divinely inspired St. John.
More Works by Poussin
Notes:
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