Cleveland Museum of Art

Apollo with Erato and Cupid

Date

1595

Medium

pen and black ink and brown wash heightened with white gouache

Culture

Germany

Department

Drawings

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

In this visual allegory of poetry, Apollo holds his attribute, the kithara, a stringed instrument used in the recitation of epic poems. Erato, the Muse of lyric poetry, appears with a lute and tambourine at her feet. Lyric poetry typically expresses an idea or emotion, such as love, through short, musical, and rhythmic verse. Kellerthaler lived in Dresden, where he regularly worked for members of the Saxon court as a painter, sculptor, printmaker, and goldsmith.

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