MAGNIFICENT SET OF 4 ALLEGORIC TABLES "THE MUSES"... Lot 850

MAGNIFICENT SET OF 4 ALLEGORIC TABLES "THE MUSES" after Eustace LE SUEUR Oil on canvas representing the sisters Calliope, Uranie, Erato and Terpsichore Gilded wooden frames decorated with a pediment and garlands of carved flowers -URANIA, muse of astronomy and astrology, recognizable by the compass, the crown of stars and the celestial globe 131 x 81,5 cm -ERATO, muse of lyrical and erotic poetry, playing the viola and wearing a crown of myrtle and roses. In the original painting, rectangular in size (130 x 138 cm), she is accompanied by Melpomene and Polymnia, respectively muses of song and rhetoric. 132 x 81 cm -TERPSICHORE, muse of lyric poetry, dramatic chorus and dance, recognizable by her garlanded crown. 131 x 86 cm -CALLIOPE, muse of the epic poetry 131,5 x 86 cm Framed, small restorations of use These works are based on the subjects painted by Eustache Le Sueur (1616-1655) during the last three years of his life for the five paintings of the Cabinet des Muses in the Hôtel Lambert, built on the Île Saint-Louis in Paris by Le Vau between 1641 and 1644. These paintings were taken from the decorations and acquired by Louis XVI in 1777. They have been in the Louvre since 1785. A student of Simon Vouet, the King's first painter, Le Sueur worked alongside Charles Le Brun and was one of the founders, in 1648, of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. The originals in the Louvre measure approximately 116 x 74 cm, those presented here are slightly larger.