| Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Joshua Reynolds |
| Year | 1783–1784 |
| Medium | oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 239.4 cm × 147.64 cm (94.25 in × 58.125 in)[1] |
| Location | Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California |
Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, or Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, is a 1783–1784 painting by English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. The 1784 version is in the Huntington Library art museum,[1] while a 1789 reproduction from Reynolds's studio is in the Dulwich Picture Gallery.[2]
Composition
[edit]The painting depicts the actress Sarah Siddons as Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. Siddons wears a diadem and is dressed in an 18th-century costume adorned with pearls. She is seated on a large throne while behind her, figures personifying Pity and Terror stand in the shadows.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Huntington Library.
- ^ Dulwich Picture Gallery.
- ^ McPherson 2000, p. 411.
Sources
[edit]- Bennett, Shelley; Leonard, Mark; Khandekar, Narayan (1999). ""A Sublime and Masterly Performance": The Making of Sir Joshua Reynolds's Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse". In Asleson, Robyn (ed.). A Passion for Performance: Sarah Siddons and her Portraitists. J. Paul Getty Museum. ISBN 978-0-8923-6557-9.
- McPherson, Heather (2000). "Picturing Tragedy: Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse Revisited". Eighteenth-Century Studies. 33 (3). Johns Hopkins University Press: 401–430. doi:10.1353/ecs.2000.0029. JSTOR 30053950.
- "Mrs Siddons as the Tragic Muse". Dulwich Picture Gallery. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
- "Sarah (Kemble) Siddons as the Tragic Muse". Huntington Library. Retrieved 30 June 2021.