Since the taste for classic art has existed this statue has attracted
attention. It is said that Raphael and Michael Angelo were filled
with admiration when beholding it. There has never been any attempt
at restoration of the hand which undoubtedly held a spear. Few heads
of the hero type can be compared with this for power of expression.
Meleager’s unparalleled virtues and his morbid passion are both
represented. The statue is probably a Roman copy in marble of some
celebrated Greek original in bronze. It is in the Belvedere of the
Vatican.
[Illustration]
Apollo Musagetes.
“The Patron of Music.”
“_To the sun-god all our hearts and lyres,
By day, by night, belong;
And the breath we draw from his living fires
We give him back in song._”
--MOORE.