# Musidora

**Thomas Sully** (American, 1783–1872)  
1813–35  
Oil on wood  
28 1/8 x 22 1/2 in. (71.4 x 57.2 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 21.48. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12699).

## 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._

Thomas Sully painted this in 1813–35, aged about 30. It is now at The Met in New York.

### 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: American
- The artist was about 30
- Real size: about 28 × 23 in (71 × 57 cm). The 20 × 30 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 19th century
- Movement: [Romanticism](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/romanticism)
- Subjects: Female Nudes, Bathing
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/856.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/856/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/musidora-met-12699).