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Bisschop, Cornelis
The Contest between Apollo and Pan Le concours entre Apollon et Pan
Around 1657-60 v. 1657

According to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, the forest god Pan dared to challenge Apollo to a musical contest. The judge was the mountain god Tmolus, who appears here as a ghostly figure in the background. At left, King Midas—who admired Pan’s reed pipe music—reacts with dismay as Apollo is pronounced the winner. Bisschop treats the divine figures with surprising naturalism, especially the youthful Apollo, who walks away with his stringed instrument tucked under his arm. Only his glowing halo—the mark of the sun god—reveals his identity.

Bisschop, Cornelis
Dordrecht, Netherlands1630-Dordrecht, Netherlands 1674 Dordrecht, Netherlands1630-Dordrecht, Netherlands 1674
The Contest between Apollo and Pan Le concours entre Apollon et Pan
Around 1657-60 v. 1657
Oil on panel Huile sur panneau
height / width: 38.00 x 45.60 cm; 14.96 x 17.95 in.
Gift of Alfred and Isabel Bader, 1991 Don d’Alfred et Isabel Bader, 1991
34-020.01

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