Judgement of Midas

Lorenzo Leonbruno's Judgement of Midas, painted around 1513 and now at the Gemäldegalerie Berlin, depicts the mythological contest between Apollo and Pan in which King Midas judged Pan's piping superior and was given ass's ears as punishment by Apollo. The story, told in Ovid's Metamorphoses, was a popular subject for humanist patrons who appreciated its combination of musical competition, divine punishment, and the moral lesson of rewarding mediocrity. Leonbruno was a Mantuan painter who worked at the Gonzaga court, absorbing the influence of Mantegna's classical rigor while developing his own more decorative approach to mythological subjects.

The mythological scene organizes Apollo, Pan, and the hapless Midas in a landscape setting that allows for the theatrical display of divine and satyr figures in contrast with the mortal king. Mantegnesque figural clarity is combined with a warmer Mantuan palette in this court painting.