Musidora1813–35
Musidora, the heroine of a passage in James Thomson’s poem The Seasons, undresses to bathe in a secluded woodland stream, unaware that she is being watched, as the poem tells. More about this work
About this work
Musidora, the heroine of a passage in James Thomson’s poem The Seasons, undresses to bathe in a secluded woodland stream, unaware that she is being watched, as the poem tells. The subject offered artists a literary justification for painting the nude, and Thomas Sully, best known as a portraitist, worked on this small panel over more than two decades, from 1813 to 1835. It is one of the few nudes in American painting of its period, when such subjects remained controversial.
Written by Ochre Editions.
How it was made
- Oil on panel
- Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes.
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Thomas Sully
American, 1783–1872 · Born in Horncastle, Lincolnshire; died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Sully was taken from England to America as a child by his actor parents and settled in Philadelphia in 1808. After brief study with Gilbert Stuart, he went to London, where he worked under Benjamin West and came under the influence of Thomas Lawrence. He became Philadelphia’s leading portraitist, known for graceful, flattering likenesses in a fluid manner. In 1838 he returned to London to paint the young Queen Victoria, the year after her accession.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Met has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 21.48
- Credit
- Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- The American Wing
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
