Artwork Page for Erato (lyric and love poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #14)

Details / Information for Erato (lyric and love poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #14)

Erato (lyric and love poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #14)

before 1467

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

(Italian, active 1460s)
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Culture
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century
Medium
engraving
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund 1924.432.14
Catalogue raisonné
Hind E.I.14a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print

Description

This engraving is part of the Tarocchi group marked with the letter “D,” and named Apollo and the Muses. In Greek mythology, the nine Muses (Calliope, Urania, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, and Clio) were the daughters of Zeus, king of the gods, and Mnemosyne, the Titaness of memory. The Muses were goddesses presiding over different branches of the arts and sciences. Their leader and supervisor was Apollo, the god of light, music, prophecy, and poetry.

Here, Erato is personified as a full-length female figure, in profile to the right, and set in an imaginary landscape. Her dancelike pose and the tambourine she carries suggest that she is the Muse of the dance. Erato was also regarded as the Muse of lyric and love poetry.
A vertically oriented engraving depicts Erato, a muse with light skin tone, leaning forward and facing our right. She wears a flowing, draped gown, her wavy hair partially gathered into a bun. She holds a striped, circular disk, while a second disk rests on the ground near her trailing foot. Rolling hills and simple buildings appear in the background, all framed by a decorative border and labeled 'D ERATO XIIII'.

Erato (lyric and love poetry) (from the Tarocchi series D: Apollo and the Muses, #14)

before 1467

Master of the E-Series Tarocchi

(Italian, active 1460s)
Italy, Ferrara, 15th century

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