Musica e mito nell'arte veneziana del Cinquecento: i rilievi di Apollo e Marsia e di Mida nella Libreria Sansoviniana

The Marciana Library, built since 1537, is the first great public commission obtained by Jacopo Sansovino in Venice, and the first public monument in Venice to use an extensive figurative program based on mythological images. The present paper deals with some unpublished reliefs depicting the myths of Apollo and Marsyas and of Pan's judgment. The musical themes have a long tradition in the Venetian art of the Renaissance, and appear both in private palaces, and in large public monuments, such as the Loggetta, erected by Sansovino himself.