Description:  Inscribed in pen and brown ink at lower right: Julio Romano

The man in the centre can reasonably be identified with Apollo; both the bow and the musical instrument are his attributes. The boy on his lap has been interpreted as Cyparissus or Hyacinthus, but no woman features in those stories. Telvacchia sees the composition as a more general illustration of sexual behaviour, similar to the series of "Modi" (Positions), the female figure with her overtly erotic gesture playing the part of voyeur. The "Modi" were designed by Giulio between 1521 and 1524; their engraving by Marcantonio resulted in his imprisonment.

Stylistically the drawing seems to belong to the Mantuan period, it is very close to the drawing of "Diana with two Dogs" (Cat. 469) [Bjurström, It. Drawings, cat. no. 467]

Foto: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum 2008

Apollo med en älskare