The Disquieting Muses

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The Disquieting Muses

Giorgio de Chirico, 1916

Oil on canvas

97.16 × 66 cm, 38¼ × 26 in

Private collection

The Disquieting Muses (in Italian: Le Muse inquietanti, 1916) is a painting by the Greek-Italian metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico. It is one of the most famous works of the Italian painter and of metaphysical art.

The painting was finished in 1916, during World War I, when De Chirico was in Ferrara. The city, considered by him the "perfect metaphysical city", offered several hints to his inspiration, including the Castello Estense which appears in the background of the painting. Other typical elements of De Chirico art of the time are present in the work: the dummies, the empty urban spaces, with a square covered by wooden plates to resemble a stage, a factory with high chimneys, all set within a timeless frame.

The Muses are "disquieting" for, in De Chirico's ideals, they had to path the way to overcome appearances and made the observers dialogue with unknown.

This painting would later become the inspiration for Sylvia Plath's poem, "The Disquieting Muses."

[edit] Sources

• USC Annenberg School for Communication