NICOLAS POUSSIN
82 Apollo and the Muses
on Parnassus
Pen and brown ink and brown wash, small irregular sec-
tion at right margin made up; H: 17.6 cm (6I5/6 in.); W:- 5 cm (9 "/i6 in.)
83.GG.345
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner, col-
lection mark of Louis Deglatigny (L. iy68a); at bottom
right corner, collection mark of Defer-Dumesnil
(L. 739).
PROVENANCE: Pierre Defer, Paris; Henri Dumesnil,
Paris (sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 10-12, 1900, lot
205); Louis Deglatigny, Rouen (sale, Galerie Jean Char-
pentier, Paris, May 28, 1937, lot 73); Georges Wilden-
stein, New York; Da'niel Wildenstein, New York.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. Friedlander and A. Blunt, The
Drawings of Nicolas Poussin (London, 1953), vol. 3, pp.
20-21, no. 180; G. Wildenstein, Lesgravures de Poussin au
XVIIe siecle (Paris, 1957), p. 286, under no. 138 (origi-
nally printed in Gazette des Beaux-Arts 46, no. 6
[September-December 1955], p. 286); A. Blunt, "La
premiere periode romaine de Poussin," in Nicolas Pous-
sin: Actes du colloque Poussin (Paris, 1960), vol. i, p. 170;
E. Panofsky, A Mythological Painting by Poussin in the Na-
tional Museum Stockholm (Stockholm, 1960), pp. 50-51;
55, n. 126 ; 57, n. 131; D. Mahon, "Poussiniana: After-
thoughts Arising from the Exhibition," Gazette des
Beaux-Arts 60, no. 6 (July-August 1962), pp. 86-92,
nos. 266, 267; A. Blunt, The Paintings of Nicolas Poussin:
A Critical Catalogue (London, 1966), p. 90, under no.
129; K. Badt, Die Kunst des Nicolas Poussin (Cologne,
1969), vol. i, pp. 202-203, 213; J. Pope-Hennessy, Ra-
phael (London, 1970), pp. 236; 292, n. 26; Museo del
Prado: Catalogo de laspinturas (Madrid, 1972), p. 514, un-
der no. 2312; A. Blunt, The Drawings of Poussin (New
Haven and London, 1979), pp. 24, 27-28; D. Wild, M-
colas Poussin (Zurich, 1980), vol. 2, p. 29, under no. 26.THE SUBJECT, COMPOSITION, AND SIGNIFICANT
details of this drawing are derived from Raphael's Par-
nassus in the Stanza della Segnatura, Palazzo Vaticano,
and from the engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi that
reflects an earlier design for the fresco (B. 247^00]
v.26,14). The drawing resembles the fresco more closely
in the presence of the Castilian Spring and in the lira di
braccio played by Apollo, but the flying putti appear only
in the engraving. As Panofsky noted (1960, pp. 51-52),
Poussin altered Raphael's idea in a fundamental sense. In
both fresco and engraved design, no action beyond spir-
itual discourse, music-making, and contemplation takes
place, whereas in the drawing by Poussin the composi-
tion focuses on Calliope, who crowns Homer and Virgil
with laurel wreaths while Melpomene introduces Tasso
at the left. The more animated character of the drawing's
composition is enhanced by features such as the displace-
ment of Apollo off to the left center and of the putti to
the right. In general the composition is also more
cohesive.
Poussin's drawing is in turn a preparatory study for
his painting of the same theme in the Prado, Madrid
(Blunt 1966, no. 129). Here again Poussin introduced
many modifications from his own drawing, changing
the placement of Homer and Virgil (to the left) and of
Apollo (right of center) and altering the latter s action
completely. Other alterations, such as the addition of the
nymph at the center, can be seen throughout, and the
composition has been tightened and given a more precise
structure.
Tlje date of this and other related drawings by Pous-
sin was the subject of a lively debate between Blunt and
Mahon (Friedlander and Blunt 1953, vol. 3, no. 180;
Blunt 1960, vol. i, p. 170; Mahon 1962, pp. 86-92; Blunt
1979 , pp. 27-28), the former placing it in the late 16205
and the latter in 1630-1631. The difference between the
two dates is not great, but on balance Mahon's arguments
seem more persuasive. Blunt noted Poussin's use here of
a fine quill pen, which produced "a rather scratchy line"
(Blunt 1979, pp. 27-28), thus giving a lively graphic
quality to the drawing.184 FRENCH SCHOOL • POUSSIN