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Click to see the full image. Photo: Royalpalaces.se

Polyhymnia

Polyhymnia was the Muse of pantomimic dancing: the art of conveying emotions by gestures without speech. The Muse’s gesture of wrapping herself in a long mantle was taken to represent dance, although this rigidly posed statue seems barely moving.

The gesture with the mantle was actually a typical position for women and empresses to use when portraying themselves, so this sculpture was probably not intended to represent a dancing Muse at all.

VISIT GUSTAV III'S MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES
Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities is open May until September.

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This archive shows nine of the sculptures on show at Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities, the Royal Palace. Many more are on display in the museum. Gustav III purchased several of the museum's sculptures during a journey to Italy at the end of the 1700s.

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