Erato Serenading Thalia, Euterpe, and Melpomene

This painting depicting Erato, the muse of lyric and amorous poetry, serenading three of her sister muses — Thalia (comedy), Euterpe (music), and Melpomene (tragedy) — belongs to the tradition of Muse subject pictures that had been a staple of French academic decorative painting since the seventeenth century. Charles Joseph Natoire painted this version in 1738, now in the Horvitz Collection, during his mature period of decorative mythological production. The gathering of muses allowed painters to arrange multiple graceful female figures with their distinctive attributes — lyre, mask, pipe, book — in compositions that demonstrated both compositional skill and erudition. Such works served as ceiling or overdoor decorations for libraries and music rooms, where the subjects were topically appropriate. Natoire's depiction of Erato with her lyre serenading the others gives the composition a musical and narrative focus within what might otherwise be a static assembly.

Natoire arranges the four muses in a composition that balances the performing Erato against the listening three, using varied poses, attributes, and expressions to differentiate figures that are otherwise similar in type. The palette is characteristically light and luminous, with the muses' draperies in contrasting colours to distinguish them individually. The handling is fluid and confident throughout.