Terpsichore Lyran (Muse of Lyric Poetry)
Antonio Canova (Italian, 1757–1822)
1816
- Medium
- marble
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Dimensions
- Overall: 177.5 x 78.1 x 61 cm (69 7/8 x 30 3/4 x 24 in.)
- Culture
- Italy, 19th century
- Museum
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Modern European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
- Rights
- Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
- Who can see it
- Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed
View at the Cleveland Museum of Art
About this work
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore was one of the nine Muses, or goddesses of creative inspiration. The lyre, the Greek inscription on the short column, and the caduceus (entwined snakes) on the side identify the figure as Terpsichore Lyran, muse of lyric poetry. This sculpture began with a commission from Napoleon's brother, Lucien, for an idealized portrait of his wife, Alexandrine. Antonio Canova made this version for a British aristocrat and exhibited it in 1817 at the Royal Academy in London to great acclaim.
