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| Parnassus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Andrea Mantegna |
| Year | 1497 |
| Type | Tempera and gold on canvas |
| Dimensions | 159 cm × 192 cm (63 in × 76 in) |
| Location | Louvre Museum, Paris |
TheParnassus is a painting by theItalian Renaissance painterAndrea Mantegna, executed in 1497. It is now in theMusée du Louvre, Paris.
TheParnassus was the first picture painted by Mantegna forIsabella d'Este'sstudiolo (cabinet) in theDucal Palace ofMantua. The shipping of the paint used by Mantegna for the work is documented in 1497; there is also a letter to Isabella (who was atFerrara) informing her that once back she would find the work completed.
The theme was suggested by the court poetParide da Ceresara. After Mantegna's death in 1506, the work was partially repainted to update it to the oil technique which had become predominant. The intervention was due perhaps toLorenzo Leonbruno, and regarded the heads of the Muses, of Apollo, Venus and the landscape.
Together with the other paintings in thestudiolo, it was given toCardinal Richelieu by DukeCharles I of Mantua in 1627, entering the royal collections withLouis XIV of France. Later it became part of the Louvre Museum.
The traditional interpretation of the work is based on a late 15th-century poem by Battista Fiera, which identified it as a representation ofMount Parnassus, culminating in the allegory of Isabella asVenus andFrancesco II Gonzaga asMars.
The two gods are shown on a natural arch of rocks in front a symbolic bed; in the background the vegetation has many fruits in the right part (the male one) and only one in the left (female) part, symbolizing the fecundation. The posture of Venus derives from the ancient sculpture. They are accompanied byAnteros (the heavenly love), opposed to the carnal one. The latter is still holding the arch, and has a blowpipe which aims at the genitals ofVulcan, Venus' husband, portrayed in his workshop in a grotto. Behind him is the grape, perhaps a symbol of the drunk's intemperance.
In a clearing under the arch isApollo playing alyre. Nine Muses are dancing, in an allegory of universal harmony. The touch ofPegasus's hoof (right) can generate the spring which fed the falls ofMount Helicon, which can be seen in the background. The Muses danced traditionally in wood of this mount, and thus the traditional naming of Mount Parnassus is wrong.
Near Pegasus isMercury, with his traditional winged hat,caduceus (the winged staff with entwined snakes), and messenger shoes. He is present to protect the two adulterers.
