Apollo on Parnassus (c. 1517–20): Art, History and Details

Apollo on Parnassus (c. 1517–20) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian, 1470/82–1527/34); Raphael (Italian, 1483–1520).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

During their eight-year collaboration, Raphael provided drawings to Marcantonio Raimondi, who translated them into engravings. Marcantonio’s technique is exemplifed here, consisting of curved, parallel lines crossed with hatching and punctuated with short flicks. Broad areas of blank space, printing as white, create strong chiaroscuro (light and shadow) effects. This print reproduces Raphael’s fresco in the pope’s living quarters at the Vatican and features Apollo and the Muses with three poets—Dante, Homer, and Virgil (at left). Marcantonio printed this unique working proof (such proofs are exceptionally rare), before finishing Apollo’s hands and instrument, some leaves, and the door below, perhaps to test light and shadow prior to filling in further details.

Object facts

• Title: Apollo on Parnassus
• Date: c. 1517–20
• Creator attribution: Marcantonio Raimondi (Italian, 1470/82–1527/34); Raphael (Italian, 1483–1520)
• Culture: Italy
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Sheet: 35.5 x 46.9 cm (14 x 18 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1963.231

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.