Apollo Belvedere (Apollo Pythius), 1590-1594 (published 1617)
Hendrick Goltziusexpand_more
Engravingexpand_more
The Winton Jones Endowment Fund for Prints and Drawingsexpand_more 2020.21.1
Not on Viewexpand_more
By the late 1580s, Hendrick Goltzius had won a reputation as the greatest engraver of his time. He was so well known that when he travelled to Italy, 1590–91, to see the wonders of antiquity and the Renaissance, he went incognito for his safety and privacy. His ability to incise swelling and tapering lines in complex patterns is on full display in this engraving of the Apollo Belvedere, then already housed in the Vatican, where it remains today. Near the base of the sculpture, he shows a young artist studying the statue, just as he did.
Goltzius labeled the sculpture Apollo Pythius, because scholars interpreted it as showing Apollo having just slain Python, the chthonic (underworld) serpent guarding Delphi. We see the arrows in his quiver, and the fragmentary shaft in his left has represents his bow. Apollo better be careful, for another serpent is slithering up the tree.
Details
- Title
- Apollo Belvedere (Apollo Pythius)
- Artist Life
- 1558–1617
- Role
- Artist
- Accession Number
- 2020.21.1
- Provenance
- Sale Bassenge, Berlin, November 28, 2018, lot 5114; (Eric Gillis Fine Art, Brussels, Belgium).
- Curator Approved
This record has been reviewed by our curatorial staff but may be incomplete. These 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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