Six muses
Category
Art / Sculpture
Date
circa 1801 - circa 1890
Materials
Marble on marble bases
Measurements
1400 mm (Height)
Order this imageCollection
Belton House, Lincolnshire
NT 438110
Summary
Marble on marble bases, six muses, British School, 19th century.
Full description
Marble statues depicting six muses, installed on the balustrade on the roof of the Orangery at Belton House. Facing the building, the muses are listed from left to right: NT 438110.1, Melpomene, the muse of tragedy, holds a tragic mask at her proper left and wears kothornos (buskins) NT 438110.2, Polyhmnia, the muse of sacred poetry and hymn, wraps her veil around her body with her proper left hand NT 438110.3, Euterpe, muse of music, song and lyric poetry, holds a flute in her hand NT 438110.4, Terpsichore, the muse of dance, holds a lyre with both hands NT 438110.5, Clio, the muse of history, holds a scroll in her proper right hand NT 438110.6, possibly Thalia, the muse of comedy, wears a wreath of ivy and held an object, presumably a comic mask but now disappeared, in her proper left hand The Orangery was designed by Jeffry Wyatville (1766-1840) and erected from 1819. The small balusters on the roof and upon which the muses stand were supplied by the Coade Manufactory at Lambeth in 1819-20. By 1890 the statues of the muses had been installed. There are nine muses in total so it is possible that these once formed part of a larger set. Alice Rylance-Watson October 2018
Provenance
Purchased with a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF) from Edward John Peregrine Cust, 7th Baron Brownlow, C. St J. (b.1936) in 1984.
Credit line
Belton House, The Brownlow Collection (acquired with the help of the National Heritage Memorial Fund by the National Trust in 1994)