Apollo and Marsyas

This print is the central plate of an engraving by Giulio Sanuto, printed from three plates. Signed and dated on the right-hand plate. Laid down on a backing sheet of paper.

The engraving - which was dedicated to Alfonso II d’Este Duke of Ferrara - erroneously credits Correggio as designer of the composition, which was instead derived from a painting by Angelo Bronzino depicting the myth of Apollo and Marsyas, commissioned from the artist by Guidobaldo II della Rovere between 1530 and 1532. Two paintings of this subject survive, both of which are ascribed to Bronzino: the one traditionally regarded as the original is in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, while the second is in a Private Collection. Which one of the two may be the original by Bronzino is ongoing matter of debate.

As stated by the inscription lettered on the hill in the middle ground, Sanuto added a group of nine Muses in the background of the central plate in order to fill in an otherwise empty space. The group, acknowledged on plate as being 'EX PARNASI RAPHAELIS PICTVRA', is actually taken from an engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi based upon an early (and now lost) design by Raphael for the fresco of Parnassus, painted in c.1510-11 in the Stanza della Segnatura, Vatican. An impression of Marcantonio's engraving can be found at RCIN 852473. For further discussion, see Bibliographic References.