Do you know what museum, music and amuse yourself all have in common? They come from the same word: muse. Muse is a word we borrow from Ancient Greece. We know that there are 9 known muses in ancient Greek mythology. The daughters of Zeus and Mnemosine were the romantic companions of Apollo’s entourage of gods.
The Muses began their lives as nymphs that manifested as whispers in the ears of those who invoked them. The ancient writer Hesiod called upon them across the world as the nine muses.
The Muses are the goddesses of inspiration in the arts, literature, and sciences. There are traditionally nine Muses, each responsible for a different domain of creativity:
- Calliope (epic poetry)
- Clio (history)
- Erato (love poetry)
- Euterpe (music)
- Melpomene (tragedy)
- Polyhymnia (sacred poetry)
- Terpsichore (dance)
- Thalia (comedy)
- Urania (astronomy)
The muses in Ancient History were famous as protectors of their specific artistic or scientific field but were also feared as MOURAI. They evolved from goddesses to patrons of the ARTS that believers had to pay respect to.
We still have muses today: in art, in fashion, in music, in literature.
These muses are a source of inspiration to masters in one of these fields. Muses make things happen and have a hand in creating works or artefacts by an artist.
Muses are chosen for their beauty, extravagance or talent. They may be students, models, mistresses or married women who know artists. They not only inspire their masters, but are still inspiring us today. They have become eternal because the muse and her master are a famous duo. The muse was often the basis for artistic creation and is like the fountain of ART.
Let us muse on famous muses throughout ART history and learn from them and witness the evolution of muses to other creative fields such as Music, Fashion and Film.
Mona Lisa was the face that made the Renaissance art and the angelical face painted by Leonardo Da Vinci unforgettable. We began to consider the Renaissance as the Golden Age for Italy. The identity of the Mona Lisa was kept secret and became the biggest enigma in Art History. Like Banksy, she goes down in History as the biggest mystery. No one knows them by name, but their fame cannot be bigger. She is one of the most visited artefacts in Art History and is seen as THE face of Renaissance Art. Having an artist such as Leonardo da Vinci involved int he making of this unique portrait add to her prominence and esteem that counts til today.
Rubens painted plus-size models and eternalized their opulent bodies in his atelier in Antwerp. His work was groundbreaking for Baroque art. He became the most wanted artist of his epoch and had gained acclaim as one of the best painters in Art History. Rembrandt paid record amounts of money and almost went broke from collecting Rubens’ paintings. Rubens was wanted inside and outside of his country Flanders. He was seen as a breach in technique between the North and South of the Low Countries and became a political weapon of the Spanish Court that ruled Flanders to show Flemish independence from Holland. The richness and opulence of the Flemish Baroque was in deep contrast with the sobriety of the Dutch painters.
Rubens was widely seen as the master of his Time and had many students in his atelier that helped him finish his numerous works or assignments.
Impressionist painter Emile Claus had a beautiful muse: his young student-painter Jenny de Montigny. A collaboration or relationship between master and student still resonates til today. Another affair between master and student were French sculptor Rodin and his student Camille Claudel. Do you know another example of an artistic affair in History?
Muses in fashion is a phenomenon that became big in the 1980s and 1990s.
The first model and muse in fashion was the wife of English-Parisian designer Charles Worth.
Fashion designer Muses in fashion became big in the Lagerfeld had topmodel Claudia Schiffer and friend Caroline of Monaco. Schiffer was the epitome of her time as one of the TOP MODELS of the nineties. Never before was the status of the model so big thanks to the enormous attention of the fashion press to them. They were the most photographed women appearing in glossies of their Age. Only one woman was more prominent in the media and that was Princess Diana who was literally on every cover of magazines or news papers until her fatal death that had to do with her over-commercialisation which she could not escape.
YSL brought black women on stage and changed the fashion world as we witness the fashion world today.
Can men be muses? This is a good question and the answer mistress-student.
If you are an artist or creator, you look for company. This company is an outlet for creativity.
Madame de Pompadour was the fashion guru and trendsetter whose name became big as the mistress of the French King. Her sense of style and wit made her a wanted companion of the King who had grown tired of the whimsical Queen Marie Antoinette. Both women were nevetheless known for their infuence on French fashion. The tradition that royals had mistresses was again acknowledged by the affair between Madame de Pompadour and King Louis XIV who was later on beheaded by the French revolutionists during the Bastille of Revolt directed against French nobility. The sexy and affluent style of de Pompadour has a revival in the lascivious appearance of La Schiffer on Chanel’s catwalk in the nineties.
In Literature we know that women in the lives of Shakespeare and Lord Byron played an essential role in their writings. We do not know much about the love life of Shakespeare. The only source is his writings that consists of plays and love poetry. Lord Byron was more known for his turbulent love life.
More recently, we see how Hugo Claus had a relationship with actress Sylvia Kristel who made him more productive as a writer.
Participating in art is the first step in the creative process of becoming a muse. Check which field you want to be active in and where you are skilled in.
Do you excell in something? Do you want to make a career in music, fashion, art or literature?
Sit back and read this with advice and many illustrations of muses in each field that may inspire you.
A muse sets the tone or is groundbreaking in a field and gets attention he or sh edeserves. A muse is orginally a goddess and goddesses are worshipped. Every goddess in Ancient History is known for a specific field. Her bond with this field makes her big and grants her followers or believers.
Today we only have 4 great fields: ART, MUSIC, FASHION AND LITERATURE.
Muses serve Creative Inspiration: In modern terms, a “muse” refers to someone or something that serves as an inspiration for an artist, writer, or creative person. It could be a person, a relationship, or even an idea that drives creative work. We find muses in many fields. Muses in artistic disciplines are found in art, fashion, literature and music. If you want to become a muse yourself, you have to stand out.