Apollo and the muses on Mount Helicon

Lorrain, Claude (1604-1682)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1680

Height:

99.7 cm  (39 1/4 in.)

Width:

136.5 cm  (53 3/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas laid on panel

Description

Apollo is pictured here with a lyre.
Commentary from museum website:
Born in the Lorraine region of France, Claude settled early in Italy and spent most of his life painting the countryside around Rome, with its many associations to the ancient world. This painting, done when he was eighty-two years old, represents Apollo, god of poetry and music, surrounded by the nine Muses, goddesses of the creative arts. At the upper right is the winged horse Pegasus, who has kicked a rock to release the spring that is the source of artistic inspiration. Although most of Claude's paintings included biblical or classical themes, their true subject was the light, atmosphere, and poetic mood of the natural world.

Iconclass

92B3731
Apollo and the Muses, Apollo Musagetes
92B38(LYRE)
attributes of Apollo: lyre
93D
Helicon, sacred to the Muses

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Lyre [3501]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

Notes

Artist also known as Claude Gellée (French (active in Rome), 1600–1682)

RIdIM record id

5978