PESNE Jean (Rouen 1623 † Paris 1700) - "L'automne" (or The Cluster of Canaan or The Cluster of the Promised Land). Etching and burin engraving after Nicolas POUSSIN (Villers 1594 † Rome 1665). Reference: Robert-Dumesnil, n°28. Proof of the Ist or IIIrd state on III, without the address of Gantrel, on laid paper. Fillet of margins. The Four Seasons, made between 1660 and 1664, for the Duke of Richelieu, great-nephew of the cardinal and minister of Louis XIII, were the major undertaking of Nicolas Poussin at the end of his life. The old artist, who was ill and who was reproached by some with a trembling hand, accomplished with this final cycle the synthesis of a complicated work. Autumn is evoked by the episode of the Cluster of Canaan (Numbers, 13): Joshua and Caleb, envoys of Moses, bring back a giant cluster from their exploration of the Land promised by God to the Hebrews (Senlis Museum of Art & History). 47 x 61.5 cm. Condition B (Some freckles in the subject and more numerous on the reverse, one marked vertical fold).