PERRIER, François
(b. ca. 1594, Pontarlier, d. 1649, Paris)

Aeneas and his Companions Fighting the Harpies

1646-47
Oil on canvas, 155 x 218 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

A number of minor painters in Rome came under Poussin's spell. Some of them, like François Perrier, have had their reputations undeservedly eclipsed, partly because they could not reset including Poussin's poses in their pictures even though they did not understand the reasons behind Poussin's adoption of the poses in question. This must not cloud our judgment of the abilities of such painters as Perrier, however, as they believed that they were following the correct models which would lead them to perfection.