Confirmation (c.1637–1640) is part of Nicolas Poussin’s renowned Seven Sacraments series. The painting holds a central place in the history of Western art, created by an artist regarded as a pivotal figure in the history of art in general. Touching on both spiritual and social themes, the work’s inclusion in Abu Dhabi’s Masterpieces Collection aims to attract a new global audience and to inspire future generations.

This book offers a comprehensive introduction to the work, aimed at non-specialist readers with an interest in art and art history. Together, Pierre Rosenberg and Sheila McTighe provide a lucid and accessible account of this great, challenging work, accompanied by extensive illustration of the Confirmation itself, other works by Poussin, and both his precursors and contemporaries.

Pierre Rosenberg is a French art historian, curator and professor. He is the Honorary President and Director of the Musée du Louvre in Paris, and since 1995 he has held the 23rd seat of the Académie Française. He is the author of catalogues of the drawings of important painters such as Poussin, Watteau and David, as well as of public and private collections of art. He was Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Cambridge in 1987.

Sheila McTighe is an independent art historian who was Senior Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. Her current research is on the correspondence of Nicolas Poussin, working towards the first English translation of all the artist’s letters.