This month’s masterpieces from Hadrian’s Villa are eight marble statues depicting seated muses.
In Greek mythology, the Muses were sister goddesses of music, poetry, and other artistic and intellectual pursuits. Poets and other artists often called on them for inspiration. Zeus, the king of the gods, was the father of the Muses. Their mother was Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory. Not until the 1st century BC did each Muse begin to be related to a specific art. They were worshipped at the Museion of the famous library of Alexandria, from where the modern term “Museum” originates.
Infographic created by Simeon Netchev for World History Encyclopedia (link).
The statues were unearthed at Hadrian’s Villa in the 1500s. They were made at the end of Hadrian’s reign by two Roman workshops reproducing Greek models from the 2nd century BC. The seated muses decorated the scenae frons (stage) of the odeon, a small theatre that could have held around 1,200 people.
The statues are now on display in the Prado Museum in Madrid.
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In about 1670, the statues were acquired by Queen Cristina of Sweden (1626-1689) and exhibited in her palace in Rome. They were later acquired by Philip V of Spain (1683-1746) and reached the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso (Segovia) in 1725.
The Italian sculptor Ercole Ferrata (1610-1686) heavily restored the muses, who gave them new attributes in accordance with the identification they were given at the time. Only Terpsichore, the Muse of Dancing and choral song, was correctly identified. Due to their lack of original attributes, the exact names of the other muses cannot be identified. They are now on display with their Baroque-era names.
I love the Room of the Muses Carole. All those beautiful statues are so graceful. Superb photo’s as always. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been to Hadrians Villa and it was absolutely majestic but I really wish they would leave these artifacts in situe so I don’t have search for the “Cortile del Belvedere” at the very crowded Vatican and hopefully, one day in the future, make my way to the Prado to see the muses.
Would you be able to tell me where the muses were located at Hadrians Villa before being removed and if there are copies of them there now? I don’t recall seeing them but it is a huge complex and I may have missed them, many thanks!
Unfortunately, only a few artefacts from Hadrian’s Villa are actually on display in the Antiquarium of the villa (where photography is not permitted!!!). The rest is scattered in museums across the world but mainly in Europe (Rome, Paris, London, Berlin, Munich, Madrid….). I have to do a lot of travelling to photograph all these artefacts! The Muses were found in the north part of the Villa. They decorated the small theatre (odeon), like the marble theatrical masks (see my last post). This part of the villa, behind the Serapeum, is now totally abandoned and in a state of neglect. Visitors cannot access this area of the villa anymore 🙁
Yes, you are right about the Antiquarium, it is quite small. I am going again in May and will make a point of searching for the Serapeum and where the theatre would be. There was an area with a circular water pond that was blocked off, one of my friends commented that it used to be open to the public. Do you have any idea if it is open again? I was last there in 2014.
If you look at the map on this page, it is the theatre at the top right http://vwhl.soic.indiana.edu/villa/index.php
However you will find yourself blocked near the Serapeum and you won’t be able to walk further south towards the academy. The area with the circular water pond is the so-called Maritime Theatre. It was being renovated in 2014 (I was last there in July 2014) and should have re-opened to visitors in mid-2015.
Thank you so much, I really appreciate your information. The link to that website will keep me busy for a long time. My last visit I wandered about aimlessly just taking everything in and getting the feel of things, when I visit this time I will go with a plan of specific things to see and a map. Thanks again.