Parnassus, Painting after Raphael (1483 – 1520), Stanza della Segnatura, from 1509, Fresco, Vatican Palace, Rome

As god of prophecy, Apollo has his sanctuary in Delphi, north-west of Mount Helicon, at the foot of Mount Parnassus in the Phocis region. The Castalian Spring near the inner precinct served for ritual cleansing, and was regarded as the favourite haunt of Apollo and the Muses. The subject appears frequently in the visual arts: Apollo, enthroned on Mount Parnassus, surrounded by the nine Muses – as here in Nicola Bonvicini’s small-format copy (1776) of the Parnassus fresco by Raphael (1483–1520) in the Stanza della Segnatura in the Vatican Palace.
Neither the scant attributes nor the female figures themselves allow their identities to be clearly ascertained. Taken together, they represent the wide variety of literary and musical creation, surrounded as they are by renowned personalities (as far as recognisable) from the Ancient World, the Middle Ages and the Modern Age. Standing in their typical poses, on the left beside the Muses, are Europe’s principal epic poets: Homer (blind), Dante (in profile) and Virgil (with bowed head). The reclining woman (foreground left) is identified by the scroll bearing her name: the poet Sappho, from Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. All the other grouped persons are variously interpreted in the literature.

Translated catalogue text from:
Habersatter Thomas: Die Musen. In: Astrid Ducke: Der Kuss der Musen. Festspiele göttlicher Inspiration. Residenzgalerie Salzburg. Salzburg 2020, S. 17-23, Johann Georg Bermüller, Nicola Bonvicini, Parnass, S. 20, Abb. 11, S. 20

Translation: Gail Schamberger MA, Salzburg