Apollo, the muses and the Olympic gods
Caccia, Guglielmo (1568-1625)
- Palazzo Tizzoni Mariani
Location: Palazzo Tizzoni Mariani, ground floor hall, on the ceiling
Item location
Description
The pictorial cycle of the Tizzoni house is one of the rare surviving examples of decor on a profane subject in an aristocratic house in the city of Vercelli. The gods of Olympus, united in the central panel (in which the only musical detail is represented by a sort of classically-styled kithara in Apollo`s hands) are depicted on the eight side panels. They seem to supervise the Muses as they play and sing out-of-doors. Saturn, with a scythe in hand, is associated with the Muse playing the positive organ; Proserpine, with the Muse playing a curved horn; Juno, flanked by her animal-symbol, the peacock, with the Muse holding a tambourine decorated with ribbons, bells and little disks set into its frame; Mars, with the Muse holding an oblong book. There are two badly deteriorated panels: one with Diana, associated with the Muse with the transverse flute; the other with Jupiter and a Muse playing the viola da gamba (one of the few depictions of this instrument in the Vercelli area). In the scene with Mars, Venus and Cupid, two Muses play, respectively, a nine-string harp (the number probably alludes to that of the Muses) and a lira da braccio (it is also unusual, with its nine strings?two drones and seven for fingerings). Appearing in the scene with Pegasus, are Apollo with a classical 12-string cithara and a Muse playing a lute with six doubled strings.Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)
Positive organ [2268]Cornett [3868]
Tambourine [2746]
Transverse flute [4093]
Viol [3597]
Harp [3285]
Lira da braccio [3181]
Lute [3394]
Lyre [3501]