Apollo Crowning a Poet and Giving Him a Consort

Image credit: National Trust Images

How you can use this image

This image can be used for non-commercial research or private study purposes, and other UK exceptions to copyright permitted to users based in the United Kingdom under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended and revised. Any other type of use will need to be cleared with the rights holder(s).

Review the copyright credit lines that are located underneath the image, as these indicate who manages the copyright (©) within the artwork, and the photographic rights within the image.

The collection that owns the artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

Review our guidance pages which explain how you can reuse images, how to credit an image and how to find images in the public domain or with a Creative Commons licence available.

Buy a print or image licence

You can purchase this reproduction

If you have any products in your basket we recommend that you complete your purchase from Art UK before you leave our site to avoid losing your purchases.

Notes

Add or edit a note on this artwork that only you can see. You can find notes again by going to the ‘Notes’ section of your account.

The subject of this picture has not been satisfactorily deciphered, despite its recent cleaning in 2010. Apollo is shown trampling on coins and golden treasures, symbolising the rejection of earthly goods. He is crowning a man holding a book, which suggests he is a poet, possibly Horace, who called upon Apollo to help him spurn earthly reward. Hercules, deified, as protector of the arts, and wearing his lion skin looms in the clouds above. It has been suggested that the figures on the right are the Three Graces, with their traditional symbol of the die (symbolic of child-like purity), and also that they are three separate entities. The figure at the bottom could be Fortune, mistress of the sea, with her cornucopia and a die (here symbolic of chance).

National Trust, Kingston Lacy

Wimborne Minster

Title

Apollo Crowning a Poet and Giving Him a Consort

Date

1570s

Medium

oil on canvas

Measurements

H 261.5 x W 228.5 cm

Accession number

1257229

Acquisition method

bequeathed by Ralph Bankes, 1981

Work type

Painting

Tags

See a tag that’s incorrect or offensive? Challenge it and notify Art UK.

Help improve Art UK. Tag artworks and verify existing tags by joining the Tagger community.

Art Detective discussions

Through Art Detective, you can help us to discover more about this artwork. Public collections around the country have many more artworks in need of research. Find out how you can get involved.

National Trust, Kingston Lacy

Wimborne Minster, Dorset BH21 4EA England

This venue is open to the public. Not all artworks are on display. If you want to see a particular artwork, please contact the venue.
View venue