Apollo tending the flocks of Admetus

This engraving is usually attributed to Marcantonio Raimondi, the first major Italian printmaker, and his studio assistant, Marco Dente, also known as Marco da Ravenna (1493-1527).  It depicts Apollo tending the flocks of Admetus.  He is seated holding a lyre and is flanked by a cow and a dog, with a serpent winding around a dead tree at right. The print is styled on an ancient bas relief. It is mounted in the so-called King George IV album of Old Master prints, acquired by the Dominion Museum, forerunner of Te Papa, in 1910.

Mark Stocker             Curator, Historical International Art               February 2017