The Turner Gallery
Print
1859-61 (engraved)
1859-61 (engraved)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Line engraving on steel depicting Apollo killing the Python
Object details
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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 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
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