Dido holding a dagger in her right hand, left arm outstretched (ca. 1510–30)
Original title: Dido holding a dagger in her right hand, left arm outstreched
kurzbeschreibung
An anonymous engraving made between 1510 and 30 presents the mythological figure of Dido: a dagger in her right hand, her left arm stretched out. The sheet measures 15.6 × 12.4 cm, placing it firmly in the early sixteenth century.
Description
A woman stands in a plain garment draped over one shoulder, her hair tied in a knot. Her right hand grips a dagger while the left arm points off to the side. Trees and a trunk, a river, buildings and a mountainous landscape fill the background. A book with Latin lettering lies on the ground. The arrangement recalls the Renaissance, with deliberate linework and graded shading.
Context
The subject points to the suicide of the Carthaginian queen as told in Virgil's Aeneid. The engraving belongs to an era when mythical and literary themes circulated widely in printed graphics. Since no artist is recorded, the sheet cannot be assigned to a particular workshop or region — a situation common to many prints of the early sixteenth century.
Impact
The figure's calm bearing and the richly articulated landscape give the sheet a balanced, narrative character. Fine hatching and evenly applied shading produce a quiet, almost contemplative mood.
Technique
Engraving was the method: lines are cut into a copper plate and then pulled onto paper. This printing technique, standard in the sixteenth century, shows here in the monochrome design and the precisely controlled lines.
AI-generated description text
Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public Domain (CC0 1.0)