Musidora and Damon

Summer is fading, so why not a last remembrance? This 6X6 inch tile, Pattern #17437 in the TCC Database, is one of 12 in the Seasons series by John Thomson based on poems written c. 1725-1730. This is one of the three patterns that depict Summer in the series of tiles produced, featuring "Musidora and Damon". Four  paintings titled "The Bather" by William Etty illustrate a scene from James Thomson's 1727 poem Summer in which a young man accidentally sees a young woman bathing naked, and is torn between his desire to look and his knowledge that he ought to look away. The scene on the tile shows Musidora seated by the water, wearing a long, flowing dress. An image of Damon is shown, looking on from the back right of the tile.