ET IN ARCADIA EGO

Paul Smith

Virgil (70BC-19BC)

The first appearance of the ‘Tomb in Arcadia’ appeared in Virgil's Eclogues V, 42ff:

"A lasting monument to Daphnis raise

With this inscription to record his praise;

'Daphnis, the fields' delight, the shepherds' love,

Renown'd on earth and deifi'd above;

Whose flocks excelled the fairest on the plains,

But less than he himself surpassed the swains."

1431

Filelfo, Canzone Morale – during the Renaissance the traditional figure of Justice with sword and scales was identified with the goddess Astraea.

c1470s

Lorenzo the Magnificent and his circle (which included Pico della Mirandola) identified the Medici Villa at Fiesolo (built between 1458 and 1461 for Cosimo the Elder by Michelozzo) with Arcady and the Arcadian shepherds (being the inspiration to Signorelli’s Realm of Pan [now lost]).

1502

Jacopo Sannazaro, Arcadia (Virgil's Arcadia now representing a Utopian world of bliss and beauty – with Sannazaro concentrating upon funeral hymns, yearning love songs and melancholy memories in his poem).

1590s

Sir Philip Sidney, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia.

Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, A Dialogue betweene two Shepheards, Thenot and Piers, in praise of Astrea.

c1621-1623

First version of Et In Arcadia Ego by "Guercino" (Galleria Corsini).

* The Family Palace of Giulio Rospigliosi (Pope Clement IX in 1667) contained Aurora by "Guercino".

c1630

Poussin’s first version of Et In Arcadia Ego – containing the element of drama and surprise on the part of the shepherds that encounter the tomb – being a counterpart to Poussin’s other painting, Midas Washing His Face In The River Pactolus.

1632

Honoré d’Urfé, L’Astrée.

c1640

Poussin’s second version of Et In Arcadia Ego – with the element of drama and surprise on the part of the shepherds being eliminated – instead displaying pensive contemplation. Quoting Erwin Panofsky: "Poussin's Louvre picture no longer shows a dramatic encounter with Death but a contemplative absorption in the idea of mortality". The tomb itself has been transformed from being a decorative design into a rectangular block. Poussin has used Sannazaro’s poem as the basis for his second version, from Arcadia lines 257-267 (relating to the tomb of Phyllis):

"I will make thy tomb famous and renowned among these rustic folk. Shepherds shall come from the hills of Tuscany and Liguria to worship this corner of the world solely because thou hast dwelt here once. And they shall read on the beautiful square monument the inscription that chills my heart at all hours, that makes me strangle so much sorrow in my breast: 'She who always showed herself so haughty and rigid to Meliseo now lies entombed, meek and humble, in this cold stone'."

1672

Poussin's first biographer, Giovanni Pietro Bellori, interpreted Et In Arcadia Ego as: "...the grave is to be found even in Arcady and that death occurs in the very midst of delight". Also stating that the theme of Poussin's Et In Arcadia Ego had been "suggested by Pope Clement IX, when still a prelate".

1677

Fabio Camillo Massimo inherited Poussin’s first version of Et In Arcadia Ego from his brother, Cardinal Camillo Massimi.

1685

King Louis XIV bought Poussin’s second version of Et In Arcadia Ego from C.A. Hérault.

1685

Poussin's second biographer, Andre Felibien, interpreted Et In Arcadia Ego as: "This inscription emphasizes the fact that the person buried in this tomb has lived in Arcady".

1690

Group of poets form The Arcadian Academy in Rome, electing the late Queen Christina of Sweden (died in 1689) as its symbolical head ("Basilissa"), lasting for two hundred years.

1758

First known reference to the Shepherds’ Monument at Shugborough Hall, contained in a poorly composed poem, partially written by Anna Seward.

1761

First mention of Poussin’s Et In Arcadia Ego at Chatsworth House.

1773

George Keate’s poem, The Monument In Arcadia.

1817

Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouisse-Rochefort, Les Amours, A Éléonore, recueil D’élégies divisé en Trois Livres.

– containing the phrase Et In Arcadia Ego on the frontispiece in both editions of the book (undoubtedly being a reference to the group of poets called The Arcadian Academy that were formed in Italy in 1690).

– Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouisse-Rochefort married Eleonore Musard de Saint-Michel in 1802 in Toulouse (a composer of sonnets).

1828-1829

Vicomte de François-Auguste-René Châteaubriand (1768-1848) Ambassador in Rome – raised a monument to Poussin above the artist’s mausoleum in the church of St Lorenzo, Lucino; with the dedication "F-R de Châteaubriand to Nicolas Poussin, for the glory of the Arts and the honour of France." The bas-relief of Les Bergers d’Arcadie was executed by Léon Vaudoyer (1803-1872), whilst the bust of Poussin, above it, is signed "P. Lemoyne".

1832

Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouisse-Rochefort, Voyages à Rennes-les-Bains, containing the opening words "From your happy Alphaeus, Oh darling Arethusa!" (possibly written in 1803). Labouisse-Rochefort compared the landscape of Rennes-les-Bains with Arcadia.

1832

Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouisse-Rochefort becomes accepted as a member of The Arcadian Academy - in a "Letter of thanks to the Arcadian Academy of Rome" published on 16 September at Castelnaudary, he wrote:

"A Shepherd of Arcady by the gentle inclination of my heart, I could not help but want to be a member of this illustrious Arcadian Academy. I was therefore delighted to receive the happy news that the Arcadians have deigned to admit me to membership..."

1834

Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouisse-Rochefort, Mélanges politiques et littéraires, faisant suite au Voyage à Rennes-les-Bains (Labouisse-Rochefort was a Royalist).

1936

Erwin Panofsky, Philosophy and History essays presented to Ernest Cassirer, containing the article Et In Arcadia Ego: Poussin and the Elegiac Tradition.

1937

Horst Janson, The Putto With The Death’s Head (The Art Bulletin, NY, Vol. 19, pp423-449).

1953

Robert Gavelle, Et In Arcadia Ego (Bulletin de la Société d’Etudes du XVIIe siècle, No 18).

1974

BBC2 Chronicle documentary entitled The Priest, The Painter and the Devil, featured detailed analysis of Poussin’s Les Bergers d’Arcadie (second version) by Professor Christopher Cornford, formerly of the Royal College of Art, suggesting that the painting was based upon pentagonal geometry (the Golden Section).

1975

Harry Morris, As You Like It: Et In Arcadia Ego (Shakespeare Quarterly, Washington DC, Vol. 26, Nr 3, pp269-275).

Rosalind: "Well, this is the Forest of Arden".

Touchstone: "Ay, now am I in Arden".

William Shakespeare, As You Like It, II.iv.11-12.

1991

Henry Lincoln, The Holy Place – giving the account of Professor Christopher Cornford’s analysis of Poussin’s Les Bergers d’Arcadie (second version).

1996

BBC2 Timewatch documentary The History of a Mystery emphasising the subjective nature of Professor Cornford’s theories relating to Poussin’s second version of Et In Arcadia Ego.

Quoting Martin Kemp, Professor of Art History at Oxford University:

"If we look at a picture like 'The Arcadian Shepherds' by Poussin, it's easy to find what you're looking for in terms of geometry. I think the really important point from the standpoint of a historian like myself, is that we have hundreds and hundreds of drawings by Poussin - thousands and thousands including his contemporaries - now, not in one of those is there any evidence of a geometrical armature, of angles, of precise proportions being laid down - either at the deeper level or at the top level. It's not there."

ARTISTS AND ET IN ARCADIA EGO

Giovanni Francesco Barbierini – "Guercino" (1591-1666)

Nicolas Poussin (1594-1665)

Laurent de la Hyre (1606-1656)

Peter Scheemakers (1691-1781)

Francesco Zuccarelli (1702-1788)

Richard Wilson (1714-1782)

Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792)

Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806)

Léon Vaudoyer (1803-1872)

Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898)

George Wilhelm Kolbe (1877-1947)

Augustus John (1878-1961)

 

ADDENDUM 

Extract from a letter written by Lady Elizabeth Anson to Thomas Anson, her brother-in-law (undated, translated from the French):

"Kind Shepherd –

Since I left the pleasant banks of your beautiful lignon (* ) I have not ceased to complain of jealous Time which with such swiftness has carried me away from the happy moments I spent there (Shugborough Hall). For sure, if there is one place on the turning Globe of this World where one spends days spun with Gold and Silk, it is among those flowery Vales, those shady hills, those clear rippling waters, and especially those very friendly Shepherds and Shepherdesses found there…"

* Lignon – The river Lignon du Forez (the 60 km long left-hand tributary of the river Loire). Used as a common noun in French.

* Honoré d’Urfé (1568-1625), born in Marseilles, set his pastoral romance L’Astrée (1607 onwards) on its banks. Hence lignon is used as a synonym for any Arcadian river.

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