The Muses: Urania, Erato and Calliope
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)
Place of origin
Rome
Order this imageCollection
Attingham Park, Shropshire
NT 609095
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, The Muses: Urania, Erato and Calliope by Robert Fagan (Cork c.1745 – Rome 1816), 1793/95. Grisaille panel of three full-length female figures in classical robes; all three are facing: left to right: Urania (‘heavenly one’; Muse of Astronomy), head turned three-quarters to right, her left elbow resting on a cushioned plinth her head resting in the palm of her left hand, her right holds a long wand which she points to a globe at her feet; centre is Erato (Romantic Poetry), turned to right almost profile, her left hand resting on a plinth, her right holding the neckline of her robe; on the right is Calliope ( Muse of Epic Poetry), turned to left profile, wearing a laurel wreath in her hair, her arms akimbo, in each she holds a trumpet.
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