Georg Pencz
German, c. 1500-1550
The Courtesan Punished, from The Story of the Magician Virgil
INV-7751
Georg Pencz
German, c. 1500-15501541/42
The Courtesan Punished, from The Story of the Magician Virgil
Georg Pencz German, c. 1500-1550 →engravingprint
Date
1541/42
Medium
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Image/plate: 5.8 × 8.2 cm (2 5/16 × 3 1/4 in.); Sheet: 5.9 × 8.3 cm (2 3/8 × 3 5/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Potter Palmer
Furious at his romantic failure and at being exposed by his would-be paramour (as seen in the nearby Pencz engraving, 1919.2313), Virgil is said to have devised a cunning revenge that will seem cruel and misogynistic to contemporary viewers. In a reference to the supposedly insatiable lust of women, Virgil caused all of the fires in Rome to go out and an enchanted flame to issue forth from the emperor’s daughter’s genitals. This engraving shows her shame as she helps light all the lanterns of Rome.
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