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About This Work
A woman in a flowing blue dress is shown resting on a rocky hillside next to a small, clear stream known as the Castalian spring. She holds an ornate, classical lyre and looks back over her shoulder, her posture suggesting a moment of attentive listening or inspiration. This figure is one of the nine Muses who surround the god Apollo in the larger composition.
The fresco program in the Stanza della Segnatura represents the Renaissance Neoplatonic synthesis of classical antiquity and Christian thought. Terpsichore and her sisters symbolize the 'divine frenzy' (furor divinus) described by Plato and Marsilio Ficino, which was believed to be the essential catalyst for poetic and intellectual achievement.