vcrfl:Sotheby’s auctioned this as Muse Playing Her Lyre, Bolognese School, 17th century. The lyre is

vcrfl:Sotheby’s auctioned this as Muse Playing Her Lyre, Bolognese School, 17th century. The lyre is the attribute of Terpsichore, the muse of song and dance. This hardly fits the pose of the model, the way she looks up to the dove, the scroll on her knee, and is that a quill she is holding in her right hand? All this rather suggests Erato, the muse of lyrical (love) poetry, whose attribute, however, is the cithara. The two instruments are similar, but a good history painter should have known the difference.The only legible word on the scroll is VOLUPTAS. It is written right at the end of the scrolls, seemingly pulling it down. The woman, however, is looking up to the dove, which is not only a symbol of love, but also of the Holy Ghost. The soul (Psyche) is usually represented by a woman in allegorical paintings. Note also that the woman seems to be sitting among clouds. Maybe it was meant to be an allegory of sacred and profane love that deliberately mixed Christian and antique symbolism. We will never know.Hat tip: Arcadia Art. -- source link
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