Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse | |
Artist: | Joshua Reynolds |
Year: | 1783–1784 |
Medium: | oil on canvas |
Height Imperial: | 94.25 |
Width Imperial: | 58.125 |
Museum: | Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens |
City: | San Marino, California |
Sarah Siddons as the Tragic Muse, or Mrs. Siddons as the Tragic Muse, is a 1783–1784 painting by English painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. The 1784 version is in the Huntington Library art museum, while a 1789 reproduction from Reynolds's studio is in the Dulwich Picture Gallery.
The painting depicts the actress Sarah Siddons as Melpomene, the muse of tragedy. Siddons wears a diadem and is dressed in an 18th-century costume adorned with pearls. She is seated on a large throne while behind her, figures personifying Pity and Terror stand in the shadows.