Du Quesnoy was particularly celebrated for his playful putti, the chubby toddlers that earned him the nickname fattore dei bambini (‘child maker’). Together with his friend and housemate, the French painter Nicolas Poussin, Du Quesnoy worked on an unadulterated interpretation of the classical style, basing his work on studies of ancient Greek sculpture. This pure form of classicism came to be known as la gran maniera Greca (‘the grand Greek style’). Du Quesnoy’s understated work, which contrasted starkly with the flamboyant, theatrical Baroque style of other artists in Rome, also influenced his compatriot Artus Quellinus, who worked with him in Rome for several years.
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