Apollo, seated on a cloud and holding a lyre and pipe, surrounded by putti 1692 - 1727

Giovanni Battista Catenaro produced this engraving of Apollo sometime between 1692 and 1727. It shows Apollo, the classical god of music and poetry, sat amongst the clouds surrounded by putti, or cherubic angels. It's important to remember that images like these didn't exist in a vacuum. Italy at this time was still dominated by the church. We can see how Christian iconography has been appropriated here, with pagan gods portrayed alongside biblical figures, blurring the line between the sacred and the secular. Catenaro was very clearly emulating other Renaissance artists such as Raphael. The work is typical of art produced under the patronage system, where artists relied on wealthy individuals or institutions for their livelihood. These kinds of images served as a powerful tool for those in positions of authority, who used art to legitimise their power. In this way, we must understand art as something contingent on its social and institutional context. By exploring the social and political history of seventeenth and eighteenth century Italy, we can discover much more about what this engraving can tell us.