01 Work, The art of War, Nicolas Poussin's The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites, with Footnotes

Nicolas Poussin  (1594–1665)

The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites, c. between 1623 and 1626

Oil on canvas

height: 97.5 cm (38.3 in); width: 134 cm (52.7 in)

Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

The Amalekites, descendants of Amalek, were an ancient biblical nation living near the land of Canaan. They were the first nation to attack the Jewish people after the Exodus from Egypt, and they are seen as the archetypal enemy of the Jews.

Joshua was successor to Moses, who led the Israelites through the Desert and into the Promised Land, Palestine.

Palestine, however, was not uninhabited. According to the Old Testament a local tribe, the Amalekites, lived on the east bank of the River Jordan and in the region between the Dead Sea and Hebron.

Presumably the largest population group in the land Canaan, as Palestine was known, the Amorites were defeated by Joshua in a series of battles. More on the battle  with the Amalekites

Joshua's Battle Against the Amalekites was produced as a pendant to The Battle between the Israelites and the Amorites by the same artist during his time in Rome. He fell into dire financial straits after the 1625 death of his patron, the poet Giovan Battista Marino and cardinal Francesco Barberini (1597–1679)'s departure from the city - this forced him to sell both works. They were both acquired by Catherine II of Russia to be kept in Poussin's cousin Gaspar Dughet's home on via Paolina in Rome. The pair was split up in 1927.

Normative Judaism's views on warfare are defined by restraint that is neither guided by avidness for belligerence nor is it categorically pacifist. Traditionally, self-defense has been the underpinning principle for the sanctioned use of violence, with the maintenance of peace taking precedence over waging war. While the biblical narrative about the conquest of Canaan and the commands related to it have had a deep influence on Western culture, mainstream Jewish traditions throughout history have treated these texts as purely historical or highly conditioned, and in either case not relevant to contemporary life. However, some minor strains of radical Zionism promote aggressive war and justify them with biblical texts. More on Judaism and warfare

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 mythological subjects painted for a small group of Italian and French collectors. He returned to Paris for a brief period to serve as First Painter to the King under Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu, but soon returned to Rome and resumed his more traditional themes. In his later years he gave growing prominence to the landscape in his paintings. His work is characterized by clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. Until the 20th century he remained a major inspiration for such classically-oriented artists as Jacques-Louis David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres and Paul Cézanne. More on Nicolas Poussin

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