Clio

by Thomas Jefferys

Clio, the Muse of History and Lyre Playing in Ancient Greece, is captured in this elegant engraving from the mid-18th century. This work of art has been engraved with the fine lines that were typical of Thomas Jefferys’s workshop, and the figure holds her customary symbols, such as a scroll, wreath, and a trumpet or book, which indicate her role in keeping records of heroic deeds and time.

In Jefferys’s overall ethnological and allegorical investigations, this print embodies the neoclassical impact on the Georgian artistic sensibilities. The image features classical robes and an elegant architectural setting, thereby illustrating historical personification in scholarly works of the 1700s.