Artibus et Historiae no. 57 (XXIX)

2008, ISSN 0391-9064

Up
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Buy article pdf


CLAIRE PACE - "Numi de' poeti e della musica": Claude Lorrain's Minerva Visiting the Muses

Claude Lorrain's Minerva Visiting the Muses (c. 1680, LV 195), painted for an unknown patron, is one of the artist's last works, the last recorded in his "Liber Veritatis", and also his last painting of a subject from Ovid's Metamorphoses — one of his favourite literary sources, especially in the 1640s and 1650s. The subject, a relatively rare one, is related to that of "Parnassus" — showing Apollo and the Muses on Mount Helicon, or Parnassus — which Claude painted twice: in 1652, for Camillo Pamphilj (LV 126) and in 1680 (LV 193), for Lorenzo Onofrio Colonna (possibly also the patron of LV 195). The present article considers the relationship between these works, and explores the associations of the subject, drawing on mythographers, and on images in emblem books and the illustrated Ovids. In particular, the association of the Muses with poetic inspiration in rural seclusion, and especially with celestial harmony, is emphasized. The painting, as a tribute to wisdom and the arts, provides a fitting conclusion to Claude's treatment of Ovidian themes.



Editor-in-chief Advisory Committee
Latest issue
All issues
Bibliotheca Artibus et Historiae
Our authors
Submissions
Advertising in Artibus et Historiae
How to buy
Buy articles in PDF
Cart
Links