How can a still painting compete with the dramatic effects of theater? Discover how Poussin solve the issue in this masterpiece from the Louvre Museum.

The Gathering of Manna by Nicolas Poussin, in the Louvre.

At first glance, there is something unsettling about the picture.

There seems to be too much in it – too many objects and people to look at, too many different things happening.

At the time it was painted, even Paul Fréart de Chantelou, who had commissioned it, reportedly had doubts.

Convinced of his picture’s worth, Poussin insisted that "the story and the picture" needed to be read more carefully.

His advice must have been taken, since Chantelou, whose first commission this was, went on to become one of his main patrons.

The picture itself scored a lasting success. Soon afterwards, it was acquired by Louis XIV, and became the subject of formal lectures at the Academy of Painting, where it was seen as heralding a new type of art – one that would make French painters celebrated throughout Europe.

So what was this careful reading which revealed the picture’s true worth? What made it the model of a whole new style?

I.     Looking at the picture: portraying more than just a miracle

A.      First impression - tumult

The multifarious groups which people the picture are its first intriguing feature.

In the foreground, a woman breast-feeding her starving mother tells her son to wait his turn.

A young man is showing something to an old one, and giving thanks to heaven.

On the right, a group of people are gathering the food which has fallen from the sky.

Some behave calmly, others are fighting over it. Even infants are reaching out to grasp it!

Behind them, in the centre of the picture, two men, surrounded by many other people, are pointing to heaven, or offering a prayer of thanks.

In the background, an encampment can be seen, flanked by a group of trees and a huge rock with an opening in it.

Nearby, various people seem unaffected by the general excitement: they are asleep, lost in their own thoughts or digging…

At this stage in our examination of the picture, we may wonder what - in this apparently chaotic scene, with so many different people doing so many different things – holds it together and gives it unity.

In other words, what is it really about?

B.      An obvious key: the biblical text

The answer seems obvious: as its title indicates, the picture shows the "Gathering of Manna" – an Old Testament story.

Having escaped from Egypt, the Israelites are led through the wilderness by Moses and Aaron, who appear in the centre of the picture.

Food is soon exhausted and the people, now dying of hunger, begin to lose faith in God.

God speaks to Moses and promises that the Israelites will now find every morning, when they wake …

… manna, food from heaven, scattered on the ground around their camp. It will keep them alive.

C.      But this is not the whole story: Poussin is more interested in the Israelites’ reactions to the fall of manna than in the miracle itself

But this explanation is inadequate: Poussin seems  relatively uninterested in the miracle.

In this conventional treatment of the biblical scene, we clearly see the manna falling. This is what we meant to notice.

In this painting by Tintoretto, the miracle is immediately evident: God is physically shown; the miracle’s divine origin accounts for half the composition, and the Israelites are joyfully gathering the manna.

In Guido Reni’s version, the manna is less visible, but angels are scattering it. Moses is a massive figure and dominates the picture.

There is none of all this in the Poussin!

First of all, the food falling from heaven effectively becomes a mere "detail" of the picture.

•             The dark sky on the right ...

•             The falling manna all but hidden in the folds of a woman’s dress.

•             Various receptacles…

Secondly, the divine origin of the miracle is only indirectly apparent:

•             There are no supernatural apparitions. No angels, no God.

•             Heaven is evoked by human gestures:

o             Raised arms, eyes directed upward, prayerful gestures, surprised and joyful faces…

o             … and Moses, who points commandingly to heaven.

Unlike Reni’s prophet, however, he is in the middle distance and relatively in shadow.

This accords with Poussin’s writings: in his letters, he never refers to eternal life, and  speaks of "destiny" or "fortune", rather than God.

His real concern is less with the miracle than with the human reactions and emotions it provokes.

But this still leaves our problem unsolved. Behind these seemingly chaotic emotions, can we find a unifying factor, a meaning?