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Sep 18, 2007

Clio, Muse of History

1800

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Charles Meynier

(French, 1768–1832)

France, late 18th-early 19th century

Oil on canvas

Framed: 290 x 192.4 x 7 cm (114 3/16 x 75 3/4 x 2 3/4 in.); Unframed: 273 x 176 cm (107 1/2 x 69 5/16 in.)

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund 2003.6.5

Location

201 French Neoclassical Painting & Sculpture

Did you know?

Clio's name is derived from a Greek word meaning "to recount" or "to celebrate."

Description

Clio, the Greek muse of history, is the daughter of Zeus and Titaness Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Clio is depicted here writing and surrounded by objects associated with preserving the memory of historical figures and events: busts, reliefs, and sculptures. This painting belongs to a cycle of works commissioned by businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde for his home in Toulouse.

Artist biography

Charles Meynier

Charles Meynier was a recipient of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1789 and became a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in 1815. A history painter, he created the grand decoration for ceilings of the Louvre (1819 and 1822), and produced numerous pictures glorifying the Napoleonic legend, which for the most part remain in the château de Versailles. Through the assistance of his brother Meynier Saint-Phal, a famous actor of the Comédie Française who paid for his studies, the artist entered the atelier of the painter François André Vincent (1746-1816), a principal rival of the master Jacques-Louis David. The studio in which Meynier received his training was known by the students of David as the atelier of the"perruques," (the wigs) the name given to royalists or conservatives during that period.

Provenance

In 1819, Nicolas-Antoine de Castella, general of the Swiss regiments in France, purchased the paintings and placed them in his Castle of Wallenreid, Switzerland; direct descendants; Pierre de Castella, Mannaz, Switzerland.

Citations

Bellenger, Sylvain, Paul J. and Edith Ingalls Vignos Jr. "Magnificent Muses", Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 44 no. 01, January 2004 Mentioned & reproduced: cover, p. 5, p. 7 archive.org

Wat, Pierre. "Procession des-ismes ou parade des individus? Comment s'ecrit l'histoire de l'art du X"IX siecle." In L'art du XIX siecle: l'heure de la modernite,1789-1914. 20-75. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2016. 20-21

Wat, Pierre. "Procession des '-ismes' ou parade des individus? Comment s'ecrit l'histoire de l'art du XIX siecle." In L'art du XIXe siècle: l'heure de la modernité 1789-1914. Bertrand Tillier, 21-76. Paris: Citadelles & Mazenod, 2016. Reproduced: p. 20

Musée du Grand Siècle, and Frédérique Lanoë. La curiosité à l'œuvre: dessins de la donation Pierre Rosenberg. Paris : Le Passage, 2022. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 74, fig. 31a

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Clio, Muse of History|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/2003.6.5|author=Charles Meynier|year=1800|access-date=02 June 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Clio, Muse of History

Clio, Muse of History

Charles Meynier

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Charles Meynier

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