Apollo and Marsyas

Faccioli, Girolamo (died 1573) (attributed to)

Salviati, Francesco (1510-1563) (after a work of)

Item type:

print

Date of creation:

1538

Height:

37.4 cm  (14 3/4 in.)

Width:

26.4 cm  (10 3/8 in.)

Technique / Medium:

engraving, on paper

Place of creation:

Italia

Additional titles

Description

The satyr Marsyas's arms are tied to the trunk and branch of a dead tree with no leaves, and Apollo is preparing to skin him for losing in a musical contest with the god. Hades is emerging from the ground underneath the tree as the river flows by him from Celene's cave. All three figures are naked and heavily muscled. Although a satyr, Marsyas is shown here in human form with the exception of his pointed ears. His left arm is tied high above his head to the trunk of the tree, and his right arm is tied to a low branch. He is looking down at his right arm as Apollo, holding Marysas's right hand with his right hand, prepares to skin him with a knife held in his left hand. Apollo is naked except for a cloak tied around his torso from his right waist across his chest, over his left shoulder and billowing out behind him. Apollo's instrument, a vielle, lies on top of its bow at the feet of Marsyas on the ground, while Marsyas's instrument, a bagpipe, hangs over a branch of the dead tree above their heads. Hades is climbing from underground using his scepter in his left hand to ascend while looking over his right shoulder at the viol. The movement of the leaves on the trees in the background, the clouds, and dark sky suggest a storm. The small domed Doric temple of Bramante with columns is in the background and the small town of San Pietro in Montorio lies beyond that. The inscription at the bottom reads: "Ausus cum
Phoebo Satyrus contendere' cantu, / Pro stolida pænas credulitate luit / Exuitur
cute', nec gemitu lachrimi sue precantis / Flectier offensi numinis ira potest / Quæ
modo debetur superis reuerentia, victus / Exemplo nobis Marsias vnus erit."

Iconclass

92B34121
punishment of Marsyas: he is flayed by Apollo

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Fiddle [3142]
Bagpipe [3746]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Bibliographic references

Rubach, Birte. Ant. Lafreri Formis Romae: Der Verleger Antonio Lafreri und seine Druckgraphikproduktion (Berlin: Lukas, 2016) 220, no. 158 (as Girolamo Fagiuoli). ISBN: 9783867322591.

Barryte, Bernard. Myth, allegory, and faith: The Kirk Edward Long Collection of Mannerist Prints (Stanford, CA: Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, 2015) app. 180. ISBN: 9788836630882.

Biasini, Maria. "Le incisione del Maestro FG italiano (Guido Ruggieri?)", Grafica d'arte 30 (1997) 2-9.

Acton, David, Suzanne Boorsch, Françoise Boudon, et al. The French Renaissance in prints from the Bibliothèque nationale de France (Los Angeles, Calif.: Grunwald Center for the Graphic Arts; Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1994) 470. ISBN: 9780962816239.

Massari, Stefania, and Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò. Tra mito e allegoria:
immagini a stampa nel '500 e '600 (Rome: Istituto nazionale per la grafica, 1989) 316-317.

Mortari, Luisa. Francesco Salviati (Roma: Leonardo-De Luca, 1992) 300, no. 26. ISBN: 9788878133716.

Petrucci, Alfredo. Panorama della incisione italiana: il Cinquecento (Roma: C. Bestetti, 1964) 96.

Cheney, Iris Hofmeister. Francesco Salviati (1510–1563) (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1963) 625–26, no. 22.

Zanetti, Antonio Maria. Le premier siècle de la calcographie: ou, catalogue raisonné des estampes du cabinet de feu le Comte Léopold Cicognara (Venice: J. Antonelli, 1837) 343, n. 1453.

Bury, Michael, and Antony Griffiths. The print in Italy, 1550-1620 (London: British Museum Press, 2001) 204. ISBN: 9780714126296.

Nova, Alessandro. "Francesco Salviati e gli editori: 1. Le incisioni", Francesco Salviati, 1510-1563, o, La bella maniera:
Roma, Villa Medici, 29 gennaio-29 marzo, 1998, Parigi, Musée du Louvre, 30 aprile-29 giugno 1998, ed. by Catherine Monbeig-Goguel (Parigi: Réunion des musées nationaux; Milano: Electa, 1998) 67.

Boorsch, Suzanne. "Salviati and prints: The question of Fagiuoli", Francesco Salviati et la bella maniera: actes des colloques de Rome et de Paris, 1998, ed. by Catherine Monbeig Goguel, Philippe Costamagna, and Michel Hochmann (Rome: École française de Rome, 2001).

Notes

Provenance: Antiquarius, Rome (dealer).

RIdIM record id

5449