Apollo rächt seine Schwester Diana und tötet die Töchter der Niobe, aus dem verlorenen Niobidenfries an der Fassade des Palazzo Milesi in Rom 1656

This drawing by Polidoro da Caravaggio shows Apollo avenging his sister Diana by killing the daughters of Niobe; it's a fragment of a fresco that was once on the façade of the Palazzo Milesi in Rome. The fresco would have been made using a mix of traditional materials like lime plaster, ground pigments, and water. What makes this work especially interesting is its scale, and where it was located, high up on the exterior of a building. Polidoro da Caravaggio had to consider how his images would communicate in a public space. This meant bold forms, and dramatic gestures, a graphic language that could be read from a distance, a kind of ‘street art’ of its time. Polidoro’s work challenges the notion of art as precious and separate from everyday life. By bringing classical mythology to the streets of Rome, he blurred the lines between high art and popular culture.