Parnassus Profaned, 1530-1540
Master HFE; Artist: Monogrammist HFEexpand_more
Engravingexpand_more
The Winton Jones Endowment Fund for Prints and Drawings, proceeds from the Minneapolis Print and Drawing Fair, and gift of funds from the Winton Jones Foundationexpand_more 2019.109
On View in Gallery 344expand_more
Greece’s Mount Parnassus is supposed to be home to poetry, literature, and, by extension, learning, and Apollo is meant to hold court. But here, some of Apollo’s followers have removed their laurel crowns and moved on to pleasures shared more by animals than by muses. Even the trees no longer stand alone. Still, not everyone has become debauched; some point upwards toward loftier aims. The couple at left stand on a remnant of orderly classical architecture; they look like they’ve had enough and are ready to leave. Pegasus, the virtuous winged horse, has beaten them to the exit and heads for a rainbow in the sky.
A younger generation of artists undercut the orderly decorum of Renaissance artists exemplified by Raphael. The image echoes elements from earlier prints, including the clumps of trees in Marcantonio’s Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus.
Details
- Title
- Parnassus Profaned
- Artist Life
- 16th century
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2019.109
- Provenance
- Sale, Christie's, London, June 26, 1985, lot 38, £11,000 hammer to Josefowitz; Samuel Josefowitz (c. 1922-2015, Lausanne, Switzerland); his heirs; [C. G. Boerner, New York]; sold to MIA, 2019.
- Catalogue Raisonne
- Bartsch XV.463.4, ii/ii
- Curator Approved
This record is from historic documentation and may not have been reviewed by a curator, so may be inaccurate or incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@artsmia.org.
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