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About This Work
The drawing depicts a female figure in classical drapery, captured in a dynamic contrapposto pose as she gazes back over her shoulder. She holds a tragic mask in her left hand, a traditional attribute of her identity. Finely hatched lines define the musculature of her arm and the complex folds of her gown.
As a study for the Parnassus fresco in the Stanza della Segnatura, this work reflects the High Renaissance Neoplatonic ideal of divine inspiration (furor poeticus). The Muses were seen as celestial intermediaries who channeled the harmony of the spheres into human creative endeavor, a concept central to the intellectual program of the Vatican apartments.
Connected Texts
Marsilio Ficino
Ficino’s commentaries on Plato revived the doctrine of the four divine frenzies, including the poetic madness inspired by the Muses.