. English: An Allegory of Apollo and Minerva as Wisdom and the Arts An allegorical decorative panel, depicting the assembly of the gods on Mount Olympus. Apollo, in his personification as the all-seeing, all-knowing sun god is shown riding in his chariot, top right. This is pulled through the clouds by two horses rather than the usual four and some under-painting indicates that the artist changed the positioning of the horses. Apollo, also representing truth, is surrounded by brilliant light. As the guardian of man he stands for the rational, civilized side of man's nature and his attribute o
. English: An Allegory of Apollo and Minerva as Wisdom and the Arts An allegorical decorative panel, depicting the assembly of the gods on Mount Olympus. Apollo, in his personification as the all-seeing, all-knowing sun god is shown riding in his chariot, top right. This is pulled through the clouds by two horses rather than the usual four and some under-painting indicates that the artist changed the positioning of the horses. Apollo, also representing truth, is surrounded by brilliant light. As the guardian of man he stands for the rational, civilized side of man's nature and his attribute of a lyre is held by a putto sitting on a cloud below him. Cast in shadow, top left, is Apollo's twin sister the virgin moon goddess Diana, representing chastity and acting as the guardian of women. Below the twins is a rainbow positioned diagonally across the canvas. An unclothed female figure reclines along it with her right arm raised. This is Iris who, in the form of the rainbow, descended to earth as a messenger of the gods. In a horizontal line below her are various female and male figures, some of which represent the Muses, Apollo's companions and goddesses of creative inspiration in the arts, together with winged male figures. Their positioning divides the canvas between the sky above and the crowded cloudscape below. Although the presence of the winged male figures is problematic they can be seen to stand for envy, and deception. Clio, the Muse of history, and Urania the Muse of astronomy with her attribute of a globe, are on the left. On the right is Erato the Muse of lyric and love poetry holding a triangle, with Calliope the Muse of epic poetry holding a trumpet. Below them a group is positioned around the central seated figure of Jupiter, the supreme ruler of the gods and mortals, and the chief of the twelve Olympians. As the god of the sky he empowers all. The painting shows him representing the god of many loves, who deceives women both mortal and divine. With his
Size: 1477px × 3384px
Photo credit: © The Picture Art Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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