A Dance to the Music of Time

Nicolas Poussin

c. 1634–1636 · Oil on canvas · The Wallace Collection, London

Size2:3 ratio

Frame

$59Unframed print · made to order

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Complete the setHangs well with these two

This print

A Dance to the Music of Time

Et in Arcadia ego (The Arcadian Shepherds)

The Dance Class

3 × $59 at 16 × 24 in, unframed = $177 → $159.30 as a set · 10% included · free shipping

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About this work

Artist: Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665)
Year: c. 1634–1636
Medium: Oil on canvas
Original size: 82.5 × 104 cm
Collection: The Wallace Collection, London
Movement: Baroque

Four figures dance in a ring to the lyre of winged, bearded Time, while above them Apollo's chariot crosses the dawn sky with Aurora before it and the Hours around him. Poussin painted it in Rome around 1634 to 1636 for Giulio Rospigliosi, later Pope Clement IX, who according to Bellori dictated its programme: the dancers are Poverty, Labour, Riches and Pleasure, the cycle of the human condition, with Pleasure leading back to Poverty. They can also be read as the Seasons, and the bare-shouldered figure at the back is now identified as Bacchus. A putto blows soap bubbles and another holds an hourglass. The title comes from a Wallace Collection catalogue of 1913 and was borrowed by Anthony Powell for his twelve-novel sequence. The 4th Marquess of Hertford bought the painting in 1845 and Lady Wallace bequeathed it to the nation in 1897; it hangs at Hertford House in London as P108.

This exhibition-poster edition shows the whole work beneath original typography set in-house. The original is in the public domain.

Details & materials

• Exhibition poster — original, drawn in-house • Heavyweight matte fine-art paper, giclée printed at 300 DPI • Sizes: 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in; 12×18 and 16×24 and 24×36 also available framed in black or natural wood • Made to order; colours may vary slightly from screen

Shipping & returns

Produced in 2–4 business days, then shipped from the facility nearest you. Delivery is typically 3–6 business days (US/UK/EU) and 5–12 worldwide. Because each print is made to order we don't take change-of-mind returns, but if it arrives damaged or flawed we'll reprint or refund it — no return needed. Full policy →

Is this the whole painting, or a crop?

The whole work, uncropped. The exhibition-poster edition sets the complete image above typography designed in-house.

Is A Dance to the Music of Time in the public domain?

Yes. Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665) died more than 70 years ago and the work was published before 1929, so the painting itself is public domain. This print is a reproduction made from a high-resolution scan of the original, which is held by The Wallace Collection.

What is it printed on?

Heavyweight matte fine-art paper with pigment inks, made to order in 12×18, 16×24 and 24×36 inches; the two larger sizes are also offered framed. Colours are matched to the scan, not brightened.

When was A Dance to the Music of Time painted, and in what medium?

A Dance to the Music of Time dates from c. 1634–1636 and was made in oil on canvas; the original measures 82.5 × 104 cm.

What size works above a sofa or bed?

For a standard three-seat sofa or a queen bed, 24×36 inches reads as a single statement piece; 16×24 suits a narrower wall or a pairing. The print's proportions follow the original, so a landscape-format painting is wider than it is tall.

About this design

A museum-exhibition poster of Nicolas Poussin's A Dance to the Music of Time — A Dance to the Music of Time — four figures circling hand in hand as Father Time plays the lyre and Apollo's chariot crosses the sky — shown whole and uncropped beneath gallery typography. The Classical Baroque, styled as a blockbuster exhibition print. A gallery-style exhibition poster: a celebrated public-domain artwork shown whole and uncropped beneath original exhibition typography set in-house — printed to order on heavyweight matte fine-art paper. Three sizes (12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in); the 16×24 and 24×36 are also offered framed. Part of the Madten Exhibition Posters Collection. — — — Printed to order and shipped by our production partner, Gelato.

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The Madten promise

Gallery-grade archival giclée. Rich pigment inks on heavyweight fine-art paper (or gallery-wrapped canvas) — built to last, not a poster-shop print.

Arrives perfect or we reprint it — free. Every piece is made to order; if it shows up damaged or flawed we remake it, no return needed.

Free worldwide shipping. Made & shipped from the facility nearest you — most orders arrive in ~4–8 business days.

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