| Parnassus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Nicolas Poussin |
| Year | c. 1631-1633 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 145 cm× 197 cm(57 in× 78 in) |
| Location | Prado Museum, Madrid |
Parnassus or Apollo and the Muses is an oil painting by Nicolas Poussin, from c. 1631-1633. It was inspired by the famous Raphael's Parnassus in the Stanza della Segnatura, and it is now held in the Prado Museum, in Madrid. Among the figures depicted are Apollo and, most likely, Homer.
German art historian Erwin Panofsky believed this work to be also a homage to Poussin's Roman benefactor, the poet Giambattista Marino.
In this a mythological scene, set in the Mount Parnassus, the god Apollo appears surrounded by the nine muses, each one of them carrying objects that made them recognizable, and several poets. The central figure seems to be Homer, whom the muse Calliope crowns with laurel.
Apollo and the Muses are gathered on Mount Parnassus, northeast of Delphi. In the foreground, the Castalian spring, which inspires those who drink from it, is depicted as a reclining nymph. In her right hand she holds a vase, her attribute. Apollo sits on the highest platform, and Homer, or the poet Marino, kneels before him, and is given a laurel wreath, a symbol of wisdom. He holds two books.
Jean Dughet, Poussin's brother-in-law, reproduced the painting in an etching; it is not dated but must be previous to 1667.
The painting is believed to have been in the Meyers collection. It was first mentioned in Spain in a 1746 inventory of the La Granja de San Ildefonso palace. [1]
Castalia, in ancient Greek and Roman literature, was the name of a spring near Delphi, sacred to the Muses; it is also known as the Castalian Spring. It is said to have derived its name from Castalia, a naiad-nymph, daughter of the river-god Achelous, who is said to have flung herself into the spring when pursued by the god Apollo.
Nicolas Poussin 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.
Euterpe was one of the Muses in Greek mythology, presiding over music. In late Classical times, she was named muse of lyric poetry. She has been called "Giver of delight" by ancient poets.
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture.
Polyhymnia, alternatively Polymnia (Πολύμνια), is, in Greek mythology, the Muse of sacred poetry, sacred hymn, dance and eloquence, as well as agriculture and pantomime.
Mount Parnassus is a mountain range of central Greece that is, and historically has been, especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers scenic views of the countryside, being a major international recreational site, with views of mountain landscapes. Economically its rolling foothills and valleys host extensive groves of olive, a cash crop marketed world-wide since prehistory. The mountain is also the location of historical, archaeological, and other cultural sites, such as Delphi perched on the southern slopes of the mountain in a rift valley north of the Gulf of Corinth.
Mount Parnassus is a mountain in Greece, sacred in mythology and a metaphor for the arts and learning.
In Greek mythology, Calliope is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses".
Apollo and Daphne is an Ancient Greek transformation or metamorphosis myth. No written or artistic versions survive from ancient Greek mythology, so it is likely Hellenistic in origin. It was retold by Roman authors in the form of an amorous vignette.
Andrea Appiani was an Italian neoclassical painter.
A laurel wreath is a symbol of triumph, a wreath made of connected branches and leaves of the bay laurel, an aromatic broadleaf evergreen. It was also later made from spineless butcher's broom or cherry laurel. It is worn as a chaplet around the head, or as a garland around the neck.
The Parnassus is a fresco painting by the Italian High Renaissance artist Raphael in the Raphael Rooms, in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome, painted at the commission of Pope Julius II.
The Apotheosis of Homer is a grand 1827 painting by the French Neoclassical artist Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, now exhibited at the Louvre as INV 5417. The symmetrical composition depicts Homer being crowned by a winged figure personifying Victory or the Universe. Forty-four additional figures pay homage to the poet in a kind of classical confession of faith.
The Four Seasons was the last set of four oil paintings completed by the French painter Nicolas Poussin (1594–1665). The set was painted in Rome between 1660 and 1664 for the Duc de Richelieu, the grand-nephew of Cardinal Richelieu. Each painting is an elegiac landscape with Old Testament figures conveying the different seasons and times of the day. Executed when the artist was in failing health suffering from a tremor in his hands, the Seasons are a philosophical reflection on the order in the natural world. The iconography evokes not only the Christian themes of death and resurrection but also the pagan imagery of classical antiquity: the poetic worlds of Milton's Paradise Lost and Virgil's Georgics. The paintings currently hang in a room on their own in the Louvre in Paris.
By his absolute humility, by his effacement of himself, by his refusal to use any tricks or overstate himself, Poussin has succeeded in identifying himself with nature, conceived as a manifestation of the divine reason. The Seasons are among the supreme examples of pantheistic landscape painting.
Jamais peut-être, dans toute la peinture occidentale, des choses aussi nombreuses et parfois si difficiles n'avaient été dites avec une telle simplicité. Jamais un peintre ne s'était aussi pleinement identifié à l'ordre du monde. Mais cette identification n'est ni « une projection » ni une confidence : là est le sens de cette impersonalité que l'on a pu reprocher à Poussin, et qui fait sa grandeur.
The Parnassus is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Andrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is now in the Musée du Louvre, Paris.
The Adoration of the Golden Calf is a painting by Nicolas Poussin, produced between 1633 and 1634. It is held in the National Gallery, in London.
The Inspiration of the Poet is an oil-on-canvas in the classical style by the artist Nicolas Poussin, painted between 1629 and 1630. It is held and exhibited at the Louvre, in Paris.
The Plague of Ashdod is also known as The Miracle of the Ark in the Temple of Dagon, by the French artist Nicolas Poussin. The painting represents a story from 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. The original painting currently hangs in the Louvre in Paris. Poussin was commissioned to paint The Plague of Ashdod by Fabrizio Valguarnera. Fabrizio Valguarnera was a Sicilian merchant who was put on trial for laundering money through the purchase of this painting; he also commissioned more than one version of this piece. Poussin painted this during a plague that took place in Italy from 1629 to 1631, which influenced his accurate portrayal of the epidemic.
The Death of Germanicus is a painting made in 1627 by Nicolas Poussin for Francesco Barberini. It is kept at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.
Apollo and Daphne or Apollo in Love with Daphne is an oil on canvas painting by Nicolas Poussin, from 1661-1664,, produced shortly before the painter's death. It is held in the Louvre, in Paris.
