Claire Fontijn-Harris: Elisabeth-Sophie Cheron

"If one were to imagine a female counterpart to the “Renaissance man,” a person able to excel simultaneously in several diverse domains, ֹlisabeth-Sophie Chיron (1648-1711) would satisfy the requirement. The talents that she demonstrated in art, music, and literature were rewarded in her lifetime by a nomination to two academies, as well as by a pension from Louis XIV that crowned her final years. She was named a member of the Acadיmie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1672, after having presented her self-portrait as her morceau de rיception under the protection of the painter Charles Le Brun. Although she was not the first woman to be admitted to this academy—three others had been named in the previous decade—she participated in the important first wave of female participation in the newly created institution. With the publication of her book of psalm paraphrases in 1694, the Essay de pseaumes et cantiques mis en vers, et enrichis de figures, her literary talent came to the attention of the Paduan Accademia dei Ricovrati, to which she was named a member in 1699. Given the academician name of “Erato,” after the muse of lyric and love poetry, Chיron joined the ranks of the eight other female “muses” of the academy of the Ricovrati, limited in their number—by classical dictates—to nine..."

Technorati tags: music, early music, baroque