Saturday, December 19, 2015

Roman marble muses at the Prado

Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

When these marble muses were owned by the Borgia Pope Alexander VI in the late 15th century there were nine of them, the canonical number. When they ornamented the Roman palace of Queen Christina of Sweden in the 17th century, there were only eight. Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy had gone missing.

The bodies were carved in Rome between AD 130 and 150. These were excavated in or near Rome not long before the Borgias obtained them. Neither Pope nor Queen ever saw the heads or arms on these statues as we see them now. These additions, improvements, and substitutions were carried out late in the 18th century by a neoclassical sculptor named Valeriano Salvatierra. The statues were then in the hands of descendants of the noble Romans who had inherited them from Christina.

The Prado displays the Muses as the hybrid productions they are. In fact, most of the Roman statuary in the Prado did not reach the museum before it had passed through the bold and ruthless Italian restoration factories of the 16th and 17th and 18th centuries.    

Clio, Muse of History
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Euterpe, Muse of Music & Song
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Erato, Muse of Lyric Poetry
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Polyhymnia, Muse of Hymns
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Terpisichore, Muse of Dance
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Thalia, Muse of Comedy
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

Urania, Muse of Astronomy
marble
AD 130-150 and 18th century
Prado

I am grateful for the beautiful reproductions made available by Museo del Prado.