We don’t have an image of this object online yet. V&A Images may have a photograph that we can’t show online, but it may be possible to supply one to you. Email us at vaimages@vam.ac.uk for guidance about fees and timescales, quoting the accession number: E.5074-1946
Find out about our images

Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level D , Case EL, Shelf 143, Box 1

The Turner Gallery

Print
1859-61 (engraved)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Line engraving on steel depicting Apollo killing the Python


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • The Turner Gallery (series title)
  • Apollo killing the Python (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Line engraving on steel
Brief description
Line engraving on steel by Lumb Stocks entitled 'Apollo killing the Python', from the publication 'The Turner Gallery', after works by J. M. W. Turner. Great Britain, 1859-61.
Physical description
Line engraving on steel depicting Apollo killing the Python
Credit line
Bequeathed by Horace Mummery
Object history
Apollo's first recorded achievement was to rid Pytho (Delphi) of the serpent (or dragon) Python. This monstrous beast protected the sanctuary of Pytho from its lair beside the Castalian Spring. There it stood guard while the "Sibyl" gave out her prophecies as she inhaled the trance inducing vapors from an open chasm. Apollo killed Python with his bow and arrows (Homer wrote "he killed the fearsome dragon Python, piercing it with his darts"). Apollo not only took charge of the oracle but rid the neighboring countryside of widespread destruction, as Python had destroyed crops, sacked villages and polluted streams and springs. However, to make amends for killing Python, as the fearsome beast was the son of Gaia, Apollo had to serve king Admetus for nine years (in some versions eight) as a cowherd. This he did, and when he returned to Pytho he came in the guise of a dolphin bringing with him priests from Crete (Apollo's cult title "Delphinios" meaning dolphin or porpoise, is probably how Delphi was so named). After killing Python and taking possession of the oracle, the god of light (Phobus) became known as "Pythian Apollo". He dedicated a bronze tripod to the sanctuary and bestowed divine powers on one of the priestesses, and she became known as the "Pythia". It was she who inhaled the hallucinating vapors from the fissure in the temple floor, while she sat on a tripod chewing laurel leaves. After she mumbled her answer, a male priest would translate it for the supplicant. Delphi became the most important oracle center of Apollo, there were several including Clarus and Branchidae.
Subjects depicted
Other number
R702 - Rawlinson number (Mummery Bequest)
Collection
Accession number
E.5074-1946

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSON