4x5 transparency scanned on Hasselblad Flextight X1 by Ed Pollard-2010.

Concert of Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon

Artist Maerten van Heemskerck (Netherlandish, 1498 - 1574)

CultureNetherlandish

Date1565

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions40 3/4 x 51 1/4 in. (103.5 x 130.2 cm)
Overall, Frame: 49 x 59 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. (124.5 x 151.1 x 6.4 cm)

InscribedSigned and dated lower center: "Martinus Hemskirck [...] D. 1565". Inscribed lower left: "[...] Parnussus [...] Vermulier varis [?] Callioleia modis"

Credit LineGift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.

Object number71.479

Collections

European Art before 1945

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, Gallery 203

DescriptionDepicted on this oil on panel painting is a scene from Helicon, illustrated by the artist as "an idyllic, tree-shaded paradise" (Harrison, Chrysler Museum Handbook, p. 16). Many inspired mortals play instruments, dance and bathe while putti hover above, dispensing laurel wreaths.

Label TextMaerten van Heemskerck Netherlandish, 1498–1574 Concert of Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon, 1565 Oil on wood For humanists like Maerten van Heemskerck, the ancient god of music Apollo and his nine companions embodied the ennobling power of music and its sister arts. Yet, while High Renaissance artists like Raphael envisioned their mythic gatherings as a tightly ordered frieze of stately figures (see illustration), the Mannerist artist Heemskerck interpreted it as a playful park scene brimming with anecdotal details. Even Apollo, the supposed maestro, is pushed to the middle distance, far behind the tiny attendant pumping the organ. Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. 71.479 ProvenanceMr. Benjamin Guinness, Schloss Marchligen, 1943; Dr. Fischer, Lucerne, Switzerland; Dr. Frederick Mont, New York, 1954; Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.; Gift of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr. to the Chrysler Museum, 1971. Exhibition History"Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Portland Art Museum, Oregon, March 2 - April 15, 1956; Seattle Art Museum, Washington, April 27 - May 27, 1956; Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California, June 12 - July 11, 1956; Los Angeles County Museum, California, July 26 - Aug. 26, 1956; Minneapolis Art Institute, Minnesota, Sept. 8 - Oct. 7, 1956; City Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri, Oct. 19 - Nov. 18, 1956; William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art, Kansas City Missouri, Nov. 30, 1956 - Jan. 2, 1957; Detroit Institute of Art, Michigan, Jan. 18 - Feb. 17, 1957; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts, March 7 - April 14, 1957. (Exhib. cat. no. 3, as "Parnassus"). "1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.," Fort Worth Art Center, Texas, Sept. 7 - Nov. 4, 1962; Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Dec. 4, 1962 - Jan. 23, 1963; University of Texas, Austin, Texas, Feb. 4 - March 31, 1963. (Exhib. cat. p. 39; p. 17, ill.). "Kunst Voor de Beeldenstorm - Noordnederlandse Kunst, 1525-1580," Eng. translation: "Art Before the Iconoclasm - North Netherlandish Art, 1525-1580," Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Sept. 13 - Nov. 23, 1986. (Exhib. cat. 200). Published ReferencesBertina S. Manning. _Paintings from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr.: An Exhibition Organized by the Portland Art Museum, Oregon_. Portland: Portland Art Association. 1956. Exhibition catalogue. _1550-1650, A Century of Masters from the Collection of Walter P. Chrysler, Jr._. Fort Worth: Fort Worth Art Center. 1962. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Parnassus - signed and dated 'Martinus Heemskerck f. 1565," _Chrysler Museum Bulletin_. Vol. 4, no. 10. 10/1975. Ilja M. Veldman. _Maerten van Heemskerck de Olympische Goden_. Rotterdam: Museum Boymans-van Beuningen. 1978:S. 6, Abb. 1. Rainald Grosshans, _Maerten van Heemskerck: Die Gemalde_. Berlin, 1980, pp. 239-240, no. 96. Chrysler Museum. _Selections from the Permanent Collection: The Chrysler Museum_. Norfolk, VA: Chrysler Museum of Art. 1982: p. 28, b/w ill. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Northern Art: Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries", _The Chrysler Museum Gallery Guide_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Va. 1984: No. 4. Ilja M. Veldman. "The 'Concert of the Muses' in the Work of Maarten van Heemskerck," _Hoogsteder-Naumann Mercury_. Number 1. Doornspijk, The Netherlands: Davaco Publishers. 1985:pp. 37,39, no. 5; notes 8 & 9. Jefferson C. Harrison. "Maarten van Heemskerck: Apollo and the Muses on Mt. Helicon," _Kunst Voor de Beeldenstorm: Norrdnederlandse Kunst 1525-1580_, exhib. cat., Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1986: No. 200, pp. 199-201. Peter C. Sutton. _A Guide to Dutch Art in America_. Washington D.C.: The Netherlands-American Amity Trust, Inc. 1986: fig. 293, p. 204. Jefferson C. Harrison, _The Chrysler Museum Handbook of the European and American Collections: Selected Paintings, Sculptures, and Drawings_. The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, 1991, p. 16, #14. Sheila D. Muller, ed. _Dutch Art: An Encyclopedia_. New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1997, pp. 229-230, black and white ill. p. 189.