''The Seven Sacraments'' refers to two series of paintings of the

seven sacraments The expression seven sacraments mainly refers to: * Sacrament ** Sacraments of the Catholic Church ** Eastern Orthodox Church § Holy mysteries (sacraments) ** Anglican sacraments ** Sacrament § Hussite Church and Moravian Church It can also ref ...

by the French painter

Nicolas Poussin Nicolas Poussin (, , ; June 1594 – 19 November 1665) was a French painter who was a leading painter of the classical French Baroque style, although he spent most of his working life in Rome. Most of his works were on religious and mythologic ...

First series

Painted between 1637 and 1640, the first series was commissioned by Cassiano dal Pozzo in the second half of the 1630s and was sold to the Dukes of Rutland in 1784. One of the seven, ''Penance'', was destroyed in a fire at the Rutlands'

Belvoir Castle Belvoir Castle ( ) is a faux historic castle and stately home in Leicestershire, England, situated west of the town of Grantham and northeast of Melton Mowbray. A castle was first built on the site immediately after the Norman Conquest of 10 ...

in 1816, and ''Baptism'' was acquired by the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...

in Washington DC in 1939, where it still resides. The remaining five were still at Belvoir Castle at the time when

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University ...

wrote his catalogue in 1966, and then were on loan to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

in London until November 2010, when all five of these paintings were taken off show prior to the attempted sale of ''Ordination'' on 8 December that year. ''Ordination'' was ultimately purchased by the

Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...

for US$24.3 million and was displayed for the first time there on September 14, 2011. In 2013 the

Fitzwilliam Museum The Fitzwilliam Museum is the art and antiquities University museum, museum of the University of Cambridge. It is located on Trumpington Street opposite Fitzwilliam Street in central Cambridge. It was founded in 1816 under the will of Richard ...

in Cambridge purchased ''Extreme Unction''. In January 2023, an export licence was issued for ''Confirmation'', which was sold abroad. In 2024 the National Gallery in London acquired ''Eucharist''. ''Marriage'' remains in the collection of the Trustees of the Duke of Rutland’s 2000 Settlement, and is currently on loan to the National Gallery in London The images linked to below are of the remaining six paintings of the first series, and an engraving of the lost painting ''Penance'': #''Baptism'
(image)
#''Confirmation'
(image)
#''Eucharist'
(image)
#''Penance''
image
#''Extreme Unction'
(image)
#''Ordination'
(image)
#''Marriage'
(image)

Second series

The second series was painted for Paul Fréart de Chantelou from 1644 to 1648 and was acquired by

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (21 May 1736 – 8 March 1803), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expi ...

in 1798. The paintings passed by descent to the Earls of Ellesmere, the last of whom became the

Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made ...

in 1964. All seven paintings of the second series have since 1945 been on loan to the

Scottish National Gallery The National (formerly the Scottish National Gallery) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by William Henry Play ...

, Edinburgh as part of the Bridgewater Loan.

Blunt, Anthony Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), (formerly styled Sir Anthony Blunt from 1956 until November 1979), was a leading British art historian and a Soviet spy. Blunt was a professor of art history at the University o ...

(1966). ''The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin: A Critical Catalogue''. London: Phaidon. The images linked to below are of the seven paintings of the second series: #''Baptism'
(image)
#''Confirmation'
(image)
#''Eucharist'
(image)
#''Penance'
(image)
#''Extreme Unction'
(image)
#''Marriage'
(image)
#''Ordination'
(image)

References

{{Authority control 1640 paintings 1645 paintings Paintings by Nicolas Poussin Paintings in the National Gallery, London Paintings in National Galleries Scotland Paintings in the National Gallery of Art Religious paintings

First series

Second series

See also

References