"The Voices"

Gustave Moreau - Oil
Moreau's art was inspired by biblical and mythological subjects, as in the present case. Entitled The Voices, the image shows Hesiod, the Greek author of the 'Theogony' and 'Works and Days', with his muse. The subject is a central one in Moreau's oeuvre and in the year he produced this version he went on to make at least five more. Hesiod can be identified from his shepherd's clothing with his crook and gaiters. The muse leans on him, suspended in the air and bearing a crown of laurel. The title of the work refers to inspiration, here personified by the muse.