This essay looks at the Triumph of Silenus in the context of Poussin’s definitions of how to look at a painting – Aspect and Prospect, and the Modes, arguing that the material aspects of this Triumph is an expression of the meaning of the painting, just as they are in other works by the artist. Poussin’s relationship to his materials is that of a poet towards words, as he himself says in a letter: to be manipulated to convey a particular emotion and message.