View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, left side

Puvis de Chavannes, Pierre, 1824-1898 · [ca. 1893–1896]

View of The Muses of Inspiration Hail the Spirit, The Messenger of Light, the 16'x50' panel running along the Bates Hall entrance wall. This view depicts a group of the left-side muses against a backdrop of sea and sky, and a tablet inscribed with the French title of this section. The figures and perspective were rendered in a particularly "flat" manner so as to remain faithful to classical fresco painting, in which the rendering was meant to retain its identity as the surface of a wall.