1798
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Calliope, Muse of Epic Poetry is a 1798 unspecified by Charles Meynier, a Neoclassicism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A woman in a flowing red robe holds a scroll and points to a marble bust of an old man. Behind her, a lyre leans against a stone pedestal. This is Calliope, the Greek muse of epic poetry. The bust is Homer, who wrote the *Iliad* and *Odyssey*. The painting was part of a set made for a wealthy French home in 1798—right after the Revolution, when ancient myths were back in style. If you like this, look up *The Cleveland Museum of Art* for more works like it.
The eldest of the nine Greek muses, Calliope was the goddess of music, song, and dance. She was also known as the goddess of epic poetry and conferred the gift of eloquence on kings and princes. She stands here before a bust of Homer, the ancient Greek poet who wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad . This painting belongs to a cycle of five works commissioned by businessman François Boyer-Fonfréde for his home in Toulouse.
Through the assistance of his brother, a famous actor of the Comédie Française, Charles Meynier studied in the studio of François André Vincent, the principal rival of the master Jacques-Louis David
Read the full account in the museum source.
Charles Meynier (1763 or 1768, Paris – 1832, Paris) was a French painter of historical subjects in the late 18th and early 19th century. He was a contemporary of Antoine-Jean Gros and Jacques-Louis David.
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