Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry

Erato, Muse of Lyrical Poetry and erotic verse — her name cognate with Eros — was conventionally shown with a small lyre or cithara, the instrument of personal lyric expression. Meynier's 1800 depiction of Erato completes the lyrical arts within the Cleveland Muses series, pairing with Calliope's epic grandeur and Polyhymnia's rhetoric to represent the full spectrum of poetic modes. In the Revolutionary context, lyric poetry carried particular resonance: the new regime had promoted civic song and hymn as vehicles for political feeling, and Erato's association with intimate personal emotion provided a counterweight to the more publicly directed muses. The series as a whole represented an ambitious effort to reclaim classical culture for Revolutionary France.

Erato is rendered in the cool, idealising Neoclassical manner consistent with her companions in the series, her lyre — the defining attribute — given precise attention as the symbol of lyric art. The smooth flesh and draped costume follow Meynier's careful study of ancient sculpture and his Prix de Rome formation.