Apollo and the Seasons

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Apollo and the Seasons
Apollo and the Seasons
Apollo and the Seasons
Royal Academy of Arts, London
title=Credit line
Artist
William Woollett (1735-1785) and Benjamin Thomas Pouncy after Wilson and John Hamilton Mortimer
Title
Apollo and the Seasons
Date
1777 (undated)
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Metric: 393 x 530 mm
Imperial: 15 1/2 x 20 7/8 in.
Accession Number
05/3053
Wilson Online Reference
E47
Description
To the left the god Apollo plays his lyre on Mount Olympus, raising his right hand towards the Seasons or Horae, four female figures who dance in a circle in the centre. Two putti sit blowing bubbles nearby. In a landscape with an overgrown temple and framing tree to the right, an extensive river or lake is the dominant feature, with mountains in the background and a square tower on the left bank in the middle distance.
Exhibited
London 2012 (unnumbered)
Provenance
Purchased from Thomas Cadell the younger's executors, 27 March 1844
Signature/inscription
Lettered below the image:
[1] Left: Painted by R. Wilson
[2] Right: Etched by W. Woollett & B.T. Pouncy
Subject
Based loosely on a passage from the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. The subject was popular with classical landscape painters of the 17th and 18th centuries. Apollo, god of the Sun, plays his lyre while the four Seasons dance to the music.
Related Prints
E24 Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, Royal Academy of Arts, London
E24A Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, National Museum Wales, Cardiff
E24B Richard Earlom and Robert Sayer after Wilson, Apollo and the Nymphs, The British Museum
Versions
See 'Links' tab
Related Paintings
P164 Apollo and the Seasons, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
P164A Apollo and the Seasons, Indianapolis Museum of Art
Previous Cat/Ref Nos
PL003685
Bibliography
Booth Notes Doc. 4; Booth Notes Doc. 7; Edwards 1808, p. 88; Fagan 1885, p. 43, cat. XCVI, 1st State; WGC, pp. 93-94, 96, 167, pl. 26a (version 1)
Condition/Conservation
Conserved 2012 by Emma Cox
Illustrations of the Work
Manwaring 1925, facing p. 111 (an impression)
Updated by Compiler
2017-02-09 00:00:00