The Muses
Apollo and the Muses by John Singer Sargent, 1921, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Rotunda Mural, Oil on canvas
Ixchel Franco
In the painting Apollo and the Muses by John Singer Sargent the muses are depicted alongside Apollo. In the center of the painting Apollo is standing holding an instrument, most likely a lyre. Surrounding him in a circle are all nine of the muses. They appear to be holding hands and going around him in circles dancing. Here the muses are depicted in a graceful manner as they often are due to each of their categories being an artistic one. The Muses are inspirational, artistic, smart, and elegant. These qualities are often taken as their main role in myths and in real life.
The Muses are very frequently depicted alongside Apollo most likely due to their common themes of representation, this painting is no different. Since Apollo is the god of light, sun, poetry and music which are often thought of as artistic elements. All Muses have a different category that they represent, much like the gods. However, all of them have to do with some sort of artistic quality. Calliope is depicted as the muse of epic poetry, Clio the of history, Erato of love and lyrical poetry, Euterpe the muse of music and lyrical poetry, Melpomene muse of tragedy, Polyhymnia muse of sacred poetry/ eloquence, Terpsichore muse of dance and choral singing, Thalia muse of comedy, and last Urania muse of astronomy. So in some way most of them are connected to something that can easily be conveyed and related to the god. I believe that in this instance the painting is meant to convey the artistic and ethereal view of the god, but especially of the Muses. Even though Apollo is front and center the Muses are what in my opinion draw the most attention. From the position of their hands, and the look on their faces, to the way that their dress falls while they dance, all of these are shown as grateful, elegant, artistic. That is what the Muses represent even now when we hear people talk about the Muses or simply the word Muse we think of elegant, beautiful, and graceful and I can see all of that depicted with them in this painting.
Just like in this painting the Muses are all seen as very charismatic, beautiful, smart, and wise personas. As we see in the book people were easily drawn to them like the poet Hesiod. “He lovingly describes their graceful dancing and exquisite singing to delight the gods on Olympus” (Morford et al. 59). Later in the same text we see that a reason as to why Hesiod was drawn to the Muses at first was due to his want for knowledge. In that particular part it was wanting to know the myth behind creation which the Muses gave to him. They taught him that all beings came from Chaos and so on (Morford et al. 59, 60). All throughout history the Muses were seen as the source of inspiration and they were the ones that presided over the arts and sciences (Williams). They are often thought of as the deities that give artists and people inspiration to create. In past times the Muses were often invoked so that they could help poets and others with things like singing, remembering stories, or narrating a story (Williams). The Muses were truly seen as an inspirational source not just back then but now as well.
Works Cited
Morford, Mark, et al. Classical Mythology. 11th ed., Oxford UP, 2019.
Wallace, Natasha. “John Singer Sargent's Apollo and the Muses .” Apollo and the Muses, 2005, https://www.jssgallery.org/Paintings/MFA/Apollo_and_the_Muses.htm.
Williams, Bethany. “The 9 Muses: Inspiring Art since the Age of Heroes Began.” TheCollector, 10 Dec. 2021, https://www.thecollector.com/the-9-muses-greek-mythology/.