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Follow the curve from her raised hand along the floating veil down to the swinging hem of her dress, then notice the sandals and the flowers in her hair.
A young woman dances through a wooded landscape as Terpsichore, the Muse of dance, lifting a transparent veil above her head. The Cleveland Museum of Art traces the figure to ancient Roman wall paintings then newly excavated at Herculaneum. Kauffmann, a gifted musician as well, who had once been torn between music and painting, won success with portraits and with history subjects, a field dominated by men.
oil on canvas · Overall: 91.5 x 70.8 cm · Cleveland Museum of Art · Neoclassicism
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Details and source
- Museum title
- A Dancing Young Woman as Terpsichore
- Artist
- Angelica Kauffmann (Swiss, 1741–1807)
- Date
- c. 1780
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Overall: 91.5 x 70.8 cm (36 x 27 7/8 in.)
- Credit line
- Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Cleveland Museum of Art
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.