Clio, Muse of History

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Artist: Charles Meynier (French, 1768–1832)
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: Unframed: 273 x 176 cm (107 1/2 x 69 5/16 in.)
Culture: France, late 18th-early 19th century
Museum: Cleveland Museum of Art
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Look closely at these two muses, Greek goddesses of the arts. Notice the blues and golds of their clothing and Clio’s luminous feathered wings. Although they now hang in a museum gallery, these large paintings once decorated a castle in Switzerland. Museums control temperature and humidity to protect art, but a castle’s environment is harder to manage.

When the CMA purchased these paintings in 2003, they showed signs of neglect. Their surfaces were cracked. The varnish, or clear protective coating, had become dark and yellow with age. Painting conservators carefully removed the old varnish to reveal the original brilliant colors, and inpainted areas of paint loss by filling them in with matching paint.

Which muse would you want to talk to? What would you ask her?