This statue of the Muse, found in 1774 in the ruins of the Villa of
Cassius, and now in the Vatican, is graceful and artistically excellent.
Calliope is seated, her figure slightly bent in meditation. She holds
a tablet in her left hand; while her right is poised in a manner to
enhance the expression of thought. She seems to be debating just how
best to word her song.
There are few works of art in which the artist’s conception is more
clearly and admirably shown.
[Illustration]
Diana.
“The Virgin Huntress.”
“_Oh! Hunter chaste
Of riverside and woods, and healthy waste,
Where with thy silver bow and arrows keen,
Art thou now forested? O woodland queen,
What smoother air thy smoother forehead woos?
Where dost thou listen to the wide haloos
Of thy departed nymphs? Through what dark tree
Glimmers thy crescent?_”
--BEN JONSON.