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The Intriguing Muses - De Chirico (1917-1919)

The Intriguing Muses is a painting (97 × 67 cm, oil on canvas) by the Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico created between 1917 and 1919. At least one copy of the work exists, located at the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (94 × 62 cm, gouache on paper). The work depicts an open space in which two classical statues are positioned prominently: one standing, and the other seated on a base. Both figures, which have the head of a tailor's mannequin, are surrounded by various objects, while in the background there is a third male statue. The perspective is distorted and converges in the representation of the Estense Castle of Ferrara, which is placed next to a factory. Although the image is sharp, the atmosphere is unrealistically silent and disconcerting, thanks to the warm colors and the static, intense light.
According to Eugenio Borgna: “In the painting, certainly, the climax of anguish and despair is reborn from the eyeless figures and their parched faces: evoking the immediate impression of a stupefying and lacerating silence.”
The presence of various symbols within the painting makes its interpretation challenging. Nevertheless, the castle in the background is a reference to Ferrara, the city where metaphysical painting was born (the stage for the crucial encounter with Carlo Carrà as well as a place for fundamental aesthetic reflections), while the upright mannequin in the foreground is believed to represent Hippodamia, a mythological character who, during the battle of the Centaurs and the Lapiths, awaited the outcome of the clash with unease, a sentiment that inspired the title of the work. [source Wikipedia]