Apollonius (who lived around the turn of the 1st century CE) was a little-known philosopher from Tyana, Cappadocia; Philostratus (c. 170 – c. 247 CE) wrote a romanticised life, in which the philosopher is credited with miracles, prophecies and exorcising devils on his travels through the Middle East and India. The first edition of Apollonius’s life was printed in Venice between 1501 and 1504; three Italian translations followed, all published in 1549, which prove the success of the publication. One of the 1549 translations, Della vita di Apollonio Tianeo, was published in Florence by Francesco Baldelli and is likely to have been the version used by Stradanus, as suggested by van Sasse van Ysselt. The virtually unknown subject of this drawing, taken from Book V, chapter 24, describes how, on his travels, Apollonius was well received in Alexandria, Egypt, where he was escorted with pomp through the city. There he encountered twelve convicted criminals, and he foretold that one of them, Pharion, would be saved before his execution, while eight others would be decapitated. Suddenly, a messenger on horseback arrived, and ordered the executions to stop, allowing Pharion to be freed, as he had been found innocent. Apollonius can be seen standing on the left addressing one of the executioners on horseback; Pharion can probably be identified as the prisoner in the last row, looking back over his shoulder. To the right, the prisoners, escorted by soldiers armed with spears, are being marched to their death, watched over by crowds beyond. In the centre of the architectural background, on a raised scaffold placed before a palace, an executioner awaits the arrival of the prisoners; he is watched from above by a ruler standing in a loggia, decorated with a banner.

James Hugh Smith-Barry, Marbury Hall, Northwich, Cheshire (1746?-1801); by descent to Arthur Hugh Smith-Barry, Lord Barrymore, Marbury Hall, Northwich, Cheshire (1843-1925); his estate sale, Sotheby's (London), 21 June 1933; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b (50 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952

van Sasse van Ysselt, Dorine, ‘Stradanus Drawings for the “Life of Apollonius of Tyra”’, Master Drawings, XXXII, 1994, pp. 351-59
pp. 354-55
fig. 6

Blunt, Anthony, Hand-list of the drawings in the Witt Collection, London, 1956
p. 131

Watermark: none.

Collector's mark: Support (historic), Recto: along lower left, centre and right, blindstamped, associated with the Barrymore collection (not in Lugt): "M.C." "E" "95"; lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

Inscription: Recto: along lower edge, brown ink, artist's hand: now all trimmed away, tips of some ascenders still visible - two separate scraps of this inscription? now glued to the verso of the support: "Apolon[...] / van de[...]" and "[...]inio sprack met de huuerste / de tormenten 4 ghinker [?] los [...]"; lower right edge, graphite: "Barrymore Colln".