1798
(French, 1768-1832)
Oil on canvas
Overall: 275 x 235 cm (108 1/4 x 92 1/2 in.)
Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2003.6.3
Urania leans on a starry orb, indicating her role as the muse of astronomy.
A recipient of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1789, Charles Meynier became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1815 and painted large ceiling decorations at the Louvre and numerous pictures glorifying the Napoleonic legend. Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry belongs to a cycle of five paintings executed to fulfill a commission from businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde. They were intended to decorate his home in his native Toulouse and constitute a rare instance of a complete cycle of major paintings that remain intact rather than being split up and separately dispersed.
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