| Apollo and Marsyas or Apollo and Daphnis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Perugino |
| Year | c.1483 |
| Type | oil on panel |
| Dimensions | 39 cm × 29 cm (15 in × 11 in) |
| Location | Musée du Louvre, Paris |
Apollo and Daphnis is a c.1483 mythological painting byPerugino. It was sold to theLouvre in Paris in 1883, where it still hangs and in whose catalogue it was known asApollo and Marsyas.[1] By the 1880s it had become misattributed toRaphael.
It one of the most notable works commissioned from the artist byLorenzo de' Medici. In the background is a rural scene with a city or castle, a three-arch bridge, trees typical of Perugino, hills and a river. The two nude figures in the foreground allude to that in ancient Greek and Roman art - this and the other classical references demonstrate how the work is intended to be decoded by thehumanist classical elite of Florence. The standingcontrapposto figure is the godApollo, carrying a baton in his left hand and with a bow and quiver behind him. His pose draws on that of Hermes in a sculpture of Hermes and Dionysius byPraxiteles, now best known from the copyHermes and the Infant Dionysus rediscovered in the 19th century.
The identity of the seated flute-playing figure on the left is debated - it may beMarsyas,[2] but that character is usually depicted as asatyr and so it may instead byDaphnis, a young shepherd who died of love for Apollo. Daphnis is the Greek form of the name Laurus, possibly linking the work to Lorenzo de' Medici. His pose draws on a sculpture of Hermes byLysippus, best known from theSeated Hermes discovered in 1758.
