All the figures are set in Gothic niches and their names appear on short pedestals beneath the carvings. Five muses are standing, while the alternate four are presented as half-length figures. From the left the order is: Calliope, the muse of eloquence and epic poetry, holding a stylus in her right hand and a tablet in her left; Thaleia, the muse of comedy, holding a comic mask and shepherd’s staff in her crossed arms; Urania, the muse of astronomy, pointing at a globe; Polyhymnia, the muse of rhetoric, pensively grasping a scroll; Clio in the centre, first of the muses and the muse of history, holding an open scroll in her left hand; Erato, the muse of lyric and amorous poetry, playing a lyre; Euterpe, muse of music and inventor of the flute, holding two pan pipes; Melpomene, muse of tragedy, holding a tragic mask and a sword; and Terpsichore, the muse of dance, also holding a lyre.