MonoMonday and the theme is "NINE"
For around 100 years the 18th century lead Muse statues attributed to van Nost the Elder, were an important element of the Georgian landscape of the gardens, however, many were sold off to pay family debts in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with some believed to have been melted down or bought for other statuary collections.
Stowe’s landscape is one of the most remarkable legacies of Georgian England. The garden, created by Viscount Cobham, an aristocrat and politician, in the grounds of his family home, came to symbolise his power, social and political beliefs while at the same time pioneering the latest fashion in gardening. Stowe became one of the country’s first tourist attractions and continues to this day to attract thousands to enjoy its vistas.
Using three statues – one of the original Muses, along with two statues from a wider surviving group – the National Trust has painstakingly recreated the figures in composite stone and returned them to their last-known position in the heart of the garden. The work is part of an ambitious five-year programme, involving experts from across a variety of disciplines, to reinstate many of the lost temples and monuments that once dressed the gardens like pieces of a theatre set.
The Nine Muses are the Goddesses of creative arts and poetic inspiration: Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry; Clio, the Muse of History; Euterpe, the Muse of Lyric Poetry; Thalia, the Muse of Comedy and idyllic poetry and Melpomene; the Muse of Tragedy.
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