Apollo on Parnassus
1517/20
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
35.7 × 47.2 cm (14 1/16 × 18 5/8 in.)
Classification
engraving
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
107910
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This Marcantonio Raimondi engraving after Raphael’s fresco in the Vatican Stanza della Segnatura was likely the starting point for the nearby Parnassus Profaned (2015.8). Although with the exception of Apollo, no specific gods or Muses are identified in either the Marcantonio print or the Raphael painting, mortal poets such as Dante Alighieri feature in both. In contrast, in Parnassus Profaned anonymity reigns. The inebriated, lustful poets and Muses tear off their laurel wreaths in a frenzy as ...
About the Artist
Marcantonio Raimondi · 1475–1534
Marcantonio Raimondi (c. 1480–1534), born near Bologna, Italy, emerged as one of the Renaissance's premier engravers, revolutionizing printmaking through his mastery of reproductive techniques. He trained in the workshop of the goldsmith, painter, and niellist Francesco Francia, whose influence is evident in his early engravings, such as the goldsmith-like shading in *Pyramus and Thisbe* (1505), h...