Apollo and Marsayas

Giordano, the leading painter in late century Naples, was active and influential throughout Italy. His biographer, De Domenici, mentions that in Rome around 1656, Giordano was struck by some drawings by Cambiaso and took to copying them. While clearly inspired by Cambiaso, the hand responsible for this drawing is broader in rhythm and more generalized in effect. It is consistent with other drawings that have been attributed to Giordano around this time. Apollo and Marsyas was also a favorite subject in seventeenth-century Naples.