Pompeii No.22: The Muse of Architecture

In contrast to the Muse of Sculpture, my greatest departure from the Bürkner etchings is with the Muse of Architecture.

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I omitted the small angel, in part because I thought it cluttered the composition, and in part because I reckon that a muse really doesn't need anyone to whisper direction into its ear. I also simplified the architectural model from six columns to four columns.

My biggest change was in the figure of the muse itself. I think the Muse of Architecture should be more elegantly dressed than Bürkner's version, and have a softer face. My friend Yvonne, whose Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin inspired this mural, made an astute observation. She looked at the muse's face and asked, "Is this one of your friends, because the face is a more modern depiction of beauty?"

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Well, she was half right, because I based the face on that of Isabella Rossellini, whose beauty I've always admired. Now Ms. Rossellini can add to her list of many accomplishments that she is also the Muse of Architecture.

The muse's attendant bears watching.

I fear that he is a bit of an imp.

The finished Muse of Architecture is below.

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click to enlarge

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Pompeii No.21: The Muse of Sculpture

The Muse of Sculpture was the Bürkner engraving that I thought most resembled a Michelangelo study.

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Bürkner understood that Michelangelo's female bodies were probably all based on the male form (one wonders whether Michelangelo ever did use a female model). Bürkner also had a good sense of Michelangelo's rather heroic poses and the way he draped clothing.

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In fact I've made very few changes to Bürkner's engraved design. My only real critique of Bürkner's engraving is that the muse's sculpture is a weak design, and it's definitely reflective of the Victorian era. I also have an aversion to mythical entities with insect wings.

Only the tiniest of sprites —

like Tinker Bell — should merit them!

And so I've added a more classic sculpture. This type of sculpture, below, is known as a "term" (thanks, Stefan), and it very often incorporates the head of a god, but more usually the head of a satyr. Were the term used as a furniture leg, it would be known as a "terminal."

Because the children depicted with the Muse of Painting were not winged, I decided to drop the wings on this little attendant as well.

I looked at several renditions of blond hair by Michelangelo and noticed that he would sometimes add a tint of red or orange to the yellow. Perhaps the Muse of Sculpture is a strawberry blond.

The finished Muse of Sculpture is below.

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click to enlarge

Next week, we'll look at

the Muse of Architecture.

I hope you'll join me then!

In my last posting, several of my blogging friends suggested that something extra was needed around or above the muse. I want to assure my readers that I am still unveiling the Pompeii Room in its early stages, so please don't think for a moment that this is near completion! 

 

In the intervening years (I'm adding this note in 2026), I've looked at that head and thought that it fell short of the look that I was trying to achieve. And so I recently decided to paint a more authentic term, using Homer, the Greek poet of the Iliad and the Odyssey.