0776Orpheus_Provenzale

0775Orpheus_Provenzale

ogcma@byu

ClCv241

Mastery

MythMatters

Art Archive higher res
Art Archive higher res
Ovid Met. 11.1-3

Marcello Provenzale, "Orpheus," mosaic, 1618, Galleria Borghese, Rome, inv. 492.

Reid 0775Orpheus_Provenzale lists a 1618 painting, Galleria Borghese, Rome, inv. 492

P. Moreno and C. Stefani, The Borghese Gallery (Milano: Touring Club Italiano, 2001) GoogleBooks.

Image Copyright The Art Archive.

A mosaic depicting a woman playing a violin surrounded by various animals and fantastical creatures in a natural landscape

Aside from Orpheus' happy expression — for he is rarely shown happy—, Provenzale produces an apparently standard telling of the Orpheus myth. The animal menagerie ranges from the fanciful griffin to the lowly snail, all charmed. Collectively and particularly the animals offer "references to the Borghese emblems. The figure of Orpheus also alludes to Scipione Borghese and his skills as a conciliator. The mosaic was, in fact, expressly made for the cardinal." (Moreno & Stefani, 214)

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
No contractual agreement exists between this site and the Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1400 – 1990’s, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1993), though OGCMA reference-numbers relate to pages in that valuable index.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.