DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15099#0028
15
PLATE IV.
POLYHYMNIA.
[Height 2 ft. lOg in. Old No. 208. New No. 316.]
This statue was brought to England by Lord Elgin, who
obtained it from Thebes; it has unfortunately lost the head and
part of the left arm, with the hand and folds of drapery in which
it was enveloped. The position of the figure, the motive of
the right arm, and the arrangement of the dress, preclude us
from assigning the fragment to any other personage than the
Muse Polyhymnia, unless possibly to her mother Mnemosyne,
whom iu character and occupation she much resembled. It
is clothed in a chiton, which descends quite to the ground, ample
in dimensions, as appears from the multitude of the folds, and
delicate in texture, from their form and fineness. Over this is
thrown the pallium, of stouter materials, disposed in broad masses,
covering the whole person, and enclosing the arms, but treated
with such skill as to evince the artist's perfect knowledge of the
female form. There is a breadth in the composition which gives
dignity to the character of the statue, combined with a delicacy
in the arrangement of the draperies, which confers upon it all the
charms of grace and elegance.
Polyhymnia is generally supposed to derive her name from the
multitude of hymns or poems of which she was considered the
inventress, and which were dedicated to the commemoration of
the most distinguished atchievements of illustrious heroes. For
the composition and recitation of such poems, a pecnliar faculty
and cultivation of memory was necessary, and hence the similarity
in the treatment, and conformity of motive in the representations
PLATE IV.
POLYHYMNIA.
[Height 2 ft. lOg in. Old No. 208. New No. 316.]
This statue was brought to England by Lord Elgin, who
obtained it from Thebes; it has unfortunately lost the head and
part of the left arm, with the hand and folds of drapery in which
it was enveloped. The position of the figure, the motive of
the right arm, and the arrangement of the dress, preclude us
from assigning the fragment to any other personage than the
Muse Polyhymnia, unless possibly to her mother Mnemosyne,
whom iu character and occupation she much resembled. It
is clothed in a chiton, which descends quite to the ground, ample
in dimensions, as appears from the multitude of the folds, and
delicate in texture, from their form and fineness. Over this is
thrown the pallium, of stouter materials, disposed in broad masses,
covering the whole person, and enclosing the arms, but treated
with such skill as to evince the artist's perfect knowledge of the
female form. There is a breadth in the composition which gives
dignity to the character of the statue, combined with a delicacy
in the arrangement of the draperies, which confers upon it all the
charms of grace and elegance.
Polyhymnia is generally supposed to derive her name from the
multitude of hymns or poems of which she was considered the
inventress, and which were dedicated to the commemoration of
the most distinguished atchievements of illustrious heroes. For
the composition and recitation of such poems, a pecnliar faculty
and cultivation of memory was necessary, and hence the similarity
in the treatment, and conformity of motive in the representations