The lead statues on the roof of the Bodleian Library’s Clarendon Building were designed by the English painter Sir James Thornhill and represent the nine Muses, the protectors of the arts in Ancient Greece. James Thornhill was the father-in-law of William Hogarth. The famous Muses are being restored as part of a larger scale restoration project of the whole building.

To celebrate the restoration project, Annie was asked by the Bodliean Library to draw the Muses. Originally she had hoped to draw them in person as they were taken down from the roof of the building, but that wasn’t possible so she used images of James Thornill’s original drawings to create these contemporary interpretations of the nine Muses.

“The Muses are very interesting, but slightly out of date and there are some ones we wouldn’t consider the Arts today, such as History and Astronomy, and some obvious ones missing – like art and sculpture. I tried to translate the meaning of the Muses into modern day imagery and thought to create the Muses of today. I turned Polyhymnia  – the Muse of Religion and Agriculture, into an image about yoga and harmony rather than religion. Euterpe – the Muse of Music I showed at a festival like Glastonbury. Thalia – the Muse of Comedy features a pierrots and Homer Simpson, who is a great hero of mine. Erato – the Muse of Love features a rainbow to reference Sappho.”