Parnassus Profaned 1530 - 1540

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print, etching, engraving

ink drawing

pen drawing

print

etching

figuration

history-painting

italian-renaissance

italy

engraving

Dimensions: 13 7/8 × 19 3/4 in. (35.24 × 50.17 cm) (sheet)15 × 21 3/8 in. (38.1 × 54.29 cm) (sheet, mount)

This engraving, titled "Parnassus Profaned," was created by an anonymous artist. Consider the historical and cultural context of the artwork, where classical myths were often reinterpreted. Here we see a subversion of the idealized Mount Parnassus, home to the arts and intellect in Greek mythology. The scene is transformed into one of chaos and debauchery. The figures are engaged in various states of undress and revelry. These acts challenge the traditional representations of virtue and order associated with classical themes. It is worth considering whether this profanation critiques societal norms, or perhaps reflects anxieties around social upheaval. How does the artist’s choice to depict such a disorderly scene disrupt our expectations of classical subjects? What emotional response does this evoke, and what does it say about the society that produced and consumed such images?

Comments

minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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Greece’s Mount Parnassus is supposed to be home to poetry, literature, and, by extension, learning, and Apollo is meant to hold court. But here, some of Apollo’s followers have removed their laurel crowns and moved on to pleasures shared more by animals than by muses. Even the trees no longer stand alone. Still, not everyone has become debauched; some point upwards toward loftier aims. The couple at left stand on a remnant of orderly classical architecture; they look like they’ve had enough and are ready to leave. Pegasus, the virtuous winged horse, has beaten them to the exit and heads for a rainbow in the sky. A younger generation of artists undercut the orderly decorum of Renaissance artists exemplified by Raphael. The image echoes elements from earlier prints, including the clumps of trees in Marcantonio’s Apollo and the Muses on Parnassus.