An attempt by King Louis XIII to have Poussin work on ceiling painting for the Long Gallery of the Louvre ran afoul of the artist's refusal to consider ceiling paintings different from those on walls, and to turn over the execution of vast projects to assistants. The latter objection ruled out the customary colossal Baroque monumental commissions.
Poussin's paintings reflect his interest in antiquity and in Stoic philosophy. In his early work the Inspiration of the Poet, painted about 1628-29, Classical figures are arranged before a landscape in low afternoon light. Poussin attempted to recapture the magic of Titian through warm colouring unified by soft glazes and through subtle and surprising passages of lights and darks, especially the way light touches the edge of Apollo's lyre and part of his cheek, leaving the rest in shadow. This is an allegorical scene in keeping with seventeenth century ideas, the poet (it is easy to view him as a painter) owes his gifts to divine inspiration. About 1630 an illness gave Poussin a break during which he could formulate the theoretical basis of his art. Poussin abandoned his earlier lyrical style in favour of the grand manner, which required first of all a subject – drawn from religion, history or mythology -that avoided anything 'base' or 'low'. Poussin maintained that the subject must be so clarified in the painter's mind, that he will not block the essence of narrative with insignificant details. Then the painter must consider the conception, that is, the recounting of the story in an impressive way. Then the artist must devise the composition which must not be so carefully constructed that it looks laboured, but should flow naturally. Last comes the style or manner of painting or drawing.
At another point Poussin explained his theory of the modes of painting by analogy with the modes or scales in Greek music, and mentioned five, the Dorian, the Phrygian, the Lydian, the Hypolydian and the Ionic. He carried his ideas of the modes systematically into execution. His Rape of the Sabines, of about 1636-37, exemplifies the Phrygian mode adapted to 'frightful wars'. The picture fulfils all Poussin's requirements for the grand manner. The subject is lofty; the conception is powerful; the composition effortless and natural for all its references to ancient and Renaissance statuary figures and groups; and the style beyond all praise. The composition is staged in a limited space, flanked on one side by the temple portico in which Romulus stands and limited at the rear by a basilica.
