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Melpomene, Muse of Tragedy, plate 8 from Parnassus Biceps
Johann Theodor de Bry1601
- Attribution
- Johann Theodor de Bry (German, 1561-1623) after Jean-Jacques Boissard (French, 1533-1598)
- Medium
- Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
- Physical dimensions
- Image: 23.5 × 14 cm (9 5/16 × 5 9/16 in.); Plate: 25.7 × 14 cm (10 1/8 × 5 9/16 in.); Sheet: 27.8 × 16.4 cm (11 × 6 1/2 in.)
- Credit line
- The Wallace L. DeWolf and Joseph Brooks Fair Collections
CATALOGUE RECORD
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Source rights statement: Public domain
View the museum record ↗From the museum
In Greek mythology, the nine Muses governed the arts and music. Melpomene, in the print on the left, was the protector of tragedy; her counterpart Thalia, Muse of comedy and bucolic poetry, is visible on the right (see 1920.2043). Each Muse holds a mask—a tragic mask for Melpomene, a comic one for Thalia. The duality of tragedy and comedy as manifested in these two deities brings to mind the universally recognizable image of the laughing and weeping faces used to symbolize theater today.
Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0