id: 144627 accession number: 1969.261 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1969.261 updated: 2022-01-04 16:41:13.501000 Apollo and Marsyas, c. 1468. Cristoforo di Geremia (Italian, active 1456-76). Bronze; overall: 4.1 x 3.4 x 0.4 cm (1 5/8 x 1 5/16 x 3/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation 1969.261 title: Apollo and Marsyas title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1468 creation date earliest: 1463 creation date latest: 1473 current location: creditline: Gift of the John B. Putnam Foundation copyright: --- culture: Italy, 15th century technique: bronze department: European Painting and Sculpture collection: Sculpture type: Sculpture find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Cristoforo di Geremia (Italian, active 1456-76) - artist --- measurements: Overall: 4.1 x 3.4 x 0.4 cm (1 5/8 x 1 5/16 x 3/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1969 opening date: 1970-01-27T05:00:00 Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970). title: Collecting Drawings in England opening date: 1987-11-03T05:00:00 Collecting Drawings in England. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 3, 1987-January 17, 1988). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Dr. Jacob Hirsch (New York, New York). date: footnotes: citations: Bank Leu (Zurich, Switzerland), sold to Mrs. John B. Putnam. date: footnotes: citations: John B. Putnam Foundation, by gift to the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: This plaquette is based on an important 1st-century gem attributed to Diskourides that passed into the Medici collection in the 1400s. The antique carnelian stone was so popular that the design was copied in numerous variations and media. In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Marsyas challenged Apollo to a music contest: his flute versus the god's lyre. As punishment for Marsyas's hubris, Apollo bound him to a tree and had his skin flayed. In the middle of the composition is the diminutive Olympus, Marsyas's student, begging Apollo for mercy. While the exact function of this plaquette is not clear, the subject had significance for political and noble figures in the Renaissance. The lyre symbolized peace, and thus the victory of Apollo's lyre stood for the triumph of universal harmony. When Pope Paul II Barbo (1417–1471) commissioned a portrait medal in 1468, the reverse included this same image, making the connection between his papacy and the new "Peace of Italy." wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.261/1969.261_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.261/1969.261_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1969.261/1969.261_full.tif