The Parnasium with Apollo, the Muses and the ancient and modern poets, RAFFAELLO SANZIO (Urbino, 1483 – Rome, 1520), follower of

RAFFAELLO SANZIO (Urbino, 1483 – Rome, 1520), follower of

Parnasium with Apollo, the Muses and ancient and modern poets

17th-18th century

Full details (link)

This refined painting (Oil on canvas, 123 x 173 cm. – framed 137 x 187 cm.), of important dimensions and great scenic effect, is a derivation of the famous fresco by Raffaello Sanzio depicting Mount Parnasio, dating back to 1510-1511 and located in the Stanza della Segnatura, one of the four Vatican Rooms.

The meaning of the subject was to celebrate humanistic culture, a sort of allegorical representation that saw both the figures of myth and those of the greatest authors of the past placed side by side in the same space.

The scene, surrounded by a lyrical atmosphere, is set on Mount Parnassus, near the Castalia spring, home of the Muses in Greek mythology, where ancient poets and modern poets are depicted.

The painting, which rather faithfully reproduces the Raphaelesque passage with perfect harmony and great pictorial quality, is the work of an Italian author active between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. We can see the accurate balance of light, which highlights the chromatic brilliance, and the accentuated sculptural relief that the author has given to the figures, as well as the very faithful rendering of the individual pictorial details of the figures.

At the center of the composition stands the main figure of the god Apollo, crowned with laurel and sitting on a rocky boulder intent on playing the lyre, surrounded by the nine Muses: at his side Calliope with the scepter (muse of epic poetry) and Eratro with the lyre (muse of choral singing and love poetry); behind them on the left we find Talia (muse of comedy), Clio (muse of history) and Euterpe (muse of music), while on the right are depicted Polyhymnia (muse of dance and sacred song), Melpomene (muse of tragedy), Terpsichore (muse of song and dance) and Urania (muse of astronomy and geometry).

Arranged as if in an audience, all around there are eighteen ancient and modern poets divided into several groups, linked together by gestures and glances, forming a sort of continuous crescent that projects towards the spectator as if to envelop him.

At the top we can find the poets of the classical and medieval epics, on the left the young Ennius, who listens to the song of Homer (blind), followed further behind by Dante, who looks towards Virgil, who in turn turns to Statius near he.

Below, still on the left, the group of lyric poets, with the poet Sappho holding a sheet of paper with her name written on it, and also Piandaro, Catullus (or perhaps Tibullus), Horace and Petrarch.

On the opposite side at the top of the painting there are other modern poets, who have often created identification disputes. The most controversial figure is the first, for which the identification of Ariosto or, according to an alternative hypothesis, Michelangelo has been proposed. Giovanni Boccaccio would then follow (second in profile), while the others have been identified as Plautus with Terence (old in profile and young who turns to look at him) and finally Jacopo Sannazzaro.

Bottom right the three great Greek tragedians, the older Aeschylus seated, Sophocles and the younger Euripides.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The painting is completed by a pleasant gilded wooden frame and is sold complete with a certificate of authenticity and descriptive iconographic card.

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