Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History

The Metropolitan Museum of Art


    • Apollo, Pan, and a Putto Blowing a Horn, 1560s
    Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, Mantuan, 1520–1582), after Francesco Primaticcio (Italian, Bolognese, 1504–1570)
    Engraving; third state

    sheet (trimmed to border line) 11 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (29.8 x 16.5 cm)
    The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949 (49.95.161)

    This engraving of the contest between Pan and Apollo is based on one of four frescoes—the other three represent groups of Muses—that surrounded a central depiction of Venus and the Fates on the vault of the Galerie d'Ulisse at Fontainebleau. Given the planetary symbolism of the ceiling, known today only through descriptions, prints, and drawings, it seems likely that the music making here is associated with the harmonies of the cosmos.

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    This work has been published in the Museum's Bulletin or Journal. These articles may or may not represent the most current scholarship.
  • Thompson, Wendy. "Poets, Lovers, and Heroes in Italian Mythological Prints." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 61, no. 3 (Winter, 2004).
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  • Apollo, Pan, and a Putto Blowing a Horn, 1560s
    Giorgio Ghisi (Italian, Mantuan, 1520–1582), after Francesco Primaticcio (Italian, Bolognese, 1504–1570)
    Engraving; third state

    sheet (trimmed to border line) 11 3/4 x 6 1/2 in. (29.8 x 16.5 cm)
    The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949 (49.95.161)