The Muses: Euterpe and Melpomene
Robert Fagan (1761 - Rome 1816)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1793 - 1795
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
1200 x 1048 mm (47 1/4 x 41 1/4 in)
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 609094
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Muses: Euterpe and Melpomene by Robert Fagan (Cork c.1745 – Rome 1816), 1793/95. Grisaille panel of two full-length classical female figures dressed in classical robes, on the left Euterpe (Muse of Lyric Poetry and Music), facing, her head turned to right profile, stands, her weight resting on her right foot, the other crossed over, in her left hand she holds a long opened scroll (of poetry), her left elbow resting on a tall stone plinth; on the right is Melpomene (‘singer’; Muse of Tragedy) turned to left, left profile, her right foot resting on a knee-high stone, her elbows resting on her right knee, her chin resting on the palm of her right hand, wearing a large classical ‘Tragedy’ mask which is tipped to the back of her head.
Provenance
Presumably commissioned by Thomas Noel Hill, 2nd Lord Berwick (1770-1832) on his visit to Naples in 1792/3; bequeathed to the National Trust in 1947 with the estate, house and contents of Attingham by Thomas Henry Noel-Hill, 8th Baron Berwick (1877-1947) on 15th May 1953.
Credit line
Attingham Park, The Berwick Collection (National Trust)
Makers and roles
Robert Fagan (1761 - Rome 1816), artist