Cleveland Museum of Art

Apollo, God of Light, Eloquence, Poetry, and the Fine Arts with Urania, Muse of Astronomy

Charles Meynier

Date

1798

Medium

oil on canvas

Culture

France, late 18th century

Department

Modern European Painting and Sculpture

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

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. Urania leans on a starry orb, indicating her role as the muse of astronomy.

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