Czére Andrea szerk.: A Szépművészeti Múzeum közleményei (Budapest, 2008)

TERÉZ GERSZI: Frans Floris' Early Drawings in Budapest

5 FRANCESCO PRIMATICCIO, DIANA AND THREE FACED HE KATE ADORN PEGASUS WITH A WREATHE, PRIVATE COLLECTION by prints. He may have made the Budapest drawing during his years in Italy or not long afterwards, i.e. at a young age, which is not only supported by the work's affinity with Stalburch's engraving but also the aforementioned Parisian analogy. Floris must have seen several Apollo and the Muses depictions while in Italy, yet there is not a single sheet with this theme among his drawn copies. Therefore, the model he used for his work can only be guessed based on certain compositional and other stylistic similarities. Of the possible depictions that could have served as a model for the Budapest drawing, one is an etching by Antonio Fantuzzi, dated 1542/43, presumably made after Francesco Primaticcio (fig. 4).

12 This etching entitled Muses at the Foot of Mount Parnassus, including the figures of two children and a river god, slightly deviates from the traditional depictions of the theme and does not follow the often used symmetrical structure either, since

—similarly to the Budapest sheet

—it has a looser composition. In both cases, most of the figures are placed along the diagonal line that starts from the bot-