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Clio, 1869
Joseph Fagnani (1819–1873)
Oil on canvas; 43 1/2 x 33 1/2 in. (110.5 x 83.8 cm)
Gift of an Association of Ladies and Gentlemen, 1874 (74.42)
 
Susan Walker Morse (The Muse), ca. 1836–37
Samuel F. B. Morse (1791–1872)
Oil on canvas; 73 3/4 x 57 5/8 in. (187.3 x 147.4 cm)
Bequest of Herbert L. Pratt, 1945 (45.62.1)


In 1869, the society portraitist Fagnani painted a series of nine portraits of American women as the muses of classical antiquity. This work portrays Mrs. William A. Johnson, formerly Miss Sallie Day of Stonington, Connecticut, as Clio, the muse of history. Her attributes are a laurel wreath, a pen, a parchment scroll, and a trumpet.

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