-
Social Sharing
Thalia, Muse of Comedy
1739
Artwork Viewer
Crowned with ivy, Thalia, muse of comedy, lifts a curtain to reveal a play unfolding in the background. This is likely a work by the playwright Pierre de Marivaux, created for the Comédie Italienne, a theater troupe in Paris. The original star of such plays was the actress Silvia Balletti, who may have posed for this picture. The mask she holds alludes to the recurring character of Harlequin, a trickster servant. Harlequin wore a dark mask, which took on new racialized meaning in the eighteenth century, as France’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade introduced Black domestic servants into Parisian households.
- Artist
- Jean-Marc Nattier (French, 1685-1766)
- Title
- Thalia, Muse of Comedy
- Date
- 1739
- Object Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 53 1/2 x 49 in. (135.9 x 124.5 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, Mildred Anna Williams Collection
- Accession Number
- 1954.59
