Corinna of Tanagra

Frederic Lord Leighton, P. R. A. (1830-1896)

1893

Oil on canvas

H 146.5 x W 109 cm

Leighton House Museum, London,

Accession no. LH0374

Purchased, 1908

Image credit: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Culture Service, Leighton House Museum

Corinna, from the Boetian town of Tanagra, was the "most renowned poetess of ancient Greece , after Sappho" (Mulroy 167). She was reputed to have competed successfully against Pindar, and her wreath here may indicate this victory. As suggested in the Royal Academy's catalogue, "such paintings as this, where women are seen as powerful through thought and personal inspiration, represent a complementary strand to the better-known works in which women ... are represented as somnolent and inactive" (234). [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]