Thalia (comedy, pastoral poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #16)

1467

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Mythology Ferrara

Dominant colour

Thalia (comedy, pastoral poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #16) is a 1467 by Master of the E-Series Tarocchi, a Renaissance work, depicting Ferrara, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi
When & what style?: 1467 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This is a small engraving of a woman holding a comic mask and a shepherd’s staff. She stands in a simple landscape with a few trees and a low hill. The woman is Thalia, the Greek muse of comedy and pastoral poetry. She’s one of nine muses in a set of prints made in 15th-century Italy—like early trading cards for mythology. The artist is unknown, but the prints were likely used for games or study, not just decoration. To see more of these tiny mythological scenes, look up subject: italy, ferrara, 15th century.

The story of this work

Overview

This engraving is part of the Tarocchi group marked with the letter “D,” and named Apollo and the Muses . In Greek mythology, the nine Muses (Calliope, Urania, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, and Clio) were the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the Titaness of memory. The Muses were goddesses presiding over different branches of the arts and sciences. Their leader and supervisor was Apollo, the god of light, music, prophecy, and poetry. Here, Talia (Thalia) is personified as a female figure, in profile to left, seated on ivy, and set an imaginary…

Did you know?

Thalia is the only Muse in the Tarocchi series that is not represented with a celestial disk. Indeed, Thalia was believed to be a bucolic Muse, thus related to earth.

Read the full account in the museum source.