This is one of two studies in the collection which had previously been incorrectly identified as figures for the central panel of the in complete triptych ' The Seeds and Fruits of English Poetry.' However, they are almost certainly the two figures Brown drew on 14 October 1847. In his diary he records that 'Miss Chamberlayne came. Worked well till 4 in spite of her talking propensities. Made outlines of the nude of the two figures of 'Muses of impassioned & satirical poetry' (Virginia Surtees, ed., 'The Diary of Ford Madox Brown,' p. 10). These two female figures can be seen more clearly in a pen and ink study for the right side of the triptych at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Both muses sit in the top right spandrel wearing long, draped robes, and laurel wreaths on their heads. The right one sits with her right elbow resting on the decorative architecture and her finger resting on her chin. In her other hand she holds a lyre. The left one sits with her left knee raised. Her right hand rests on the uplifted knee whilst she holds a lyre with her left hand. The two drawings of nude females at BMAG correlate almost exactly to these figures in the Ashmolean drawing. Their legs are positioned to sit either side of the architecture and in the outline for the right muse Brown has faintly drawn in a lyre. The outline for the left muse differs from the Ashmolean figure in that the model's right hand rests on her chest not her knee. She holds a pole in her left hand instead of a lyre but this must have been an aide to help her stay in the awkward pose. Brown's inspiration for the muses may well have been the sibyls on the Sistine Chapel which he is likely to have seen whilst he was living in Rome in the mid-1840s.
LM