Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project
City Rooms, façade: 'Comic Muse' / 'Music' (niche statue) Photograph
Region ID | EM | |
Work ID | 93 | |
Manual Reference | LE100TCBMAY | |
Title | City Rooms, façade: 'Comic Muse' / 'Music' (niche statue) | |
Sculptor | Bingley, John | |
Sculptor | Rossi, John Charles Felix | |
Date of design | ||
Year of unveiling | 1800 | |
Unveiling details | ||
Road | Hotel Street | |
Precise Location | In a niche on the City Rooms façade, at 1st floor level to the right of the entrance bay | |
A to Z Ref | 4 C4 (1) | |
OS Ref | SK586044 | |
Postcode | LE1 6ZG | |
Work is | Extant | |
Listing Status | I | |
Duty of Care | Leicester City Council | |
Commissioned by | ||
Notes | ||
Standing female figure, dressed all'antica, playing a lyre. The statue stands in a round-headed niche framed within an aedicule, the frieze of which is decorated with four paterae and at the corners trusses decorated with 'medieval' female faces. The figure, dressed all'antica, plays upon a lyre. It was Nichols, writing shortly after the erection of the building, who first identified the two niche figures as the 'Comic and Lyric Muses'. (2) Gunnis, however, refers to them as '"Music" and "Dancing"'. (3) If Nichols is correct, then the companion figure with the tambourine must be the Lyric Muse (Erato), she being the only muse associated with that instrument. The lyre, however, is not specifically associated with the Comic Muse, Thalia, although Hall states that as an alternative to the viol, her most usual instrument, she may rarely be associated with other instruments. (4) To confuse matters further, the lyre is sometimes associated with both the Lyric Muse and the Muse of Dancing (Terpsichore). Alternatively, if we accept Gunnis's designation of the two figures, the present one with the more melodic lyre, could plausibly represent 'Music' (notwithstanding the lyre's association with Terpsichore), and its companion with the more rhythmic tambourine, 'Dance'. | ||
circa | ||
raw year | 1800 | |
Condition | Fair | |
At risk | Not at risk | |
Inscriptions | None | |
Signatures | None | |
Elements
Element Details
Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
statue | artificial stone | h. 168 cm (est.) |
lyre | metal | |
Assessment of Condition
Surface Character
Detail | Comment |
|---|---|
Accretions | some black encrustation, especially on fingers; soot in crevices and hollows |
Other | paint surface flaking |
Structural Condition
Structural Condition | Comment |
|---|---|
Broken, missing parts | left hand: top joint of 3rd finger and (possibly) index finger (though this latter may be folded forward) missing; right hand: thumb missing |
