Annotations
The winged Iris, sitting on a cloud in front of a rainbow, appears to Turnus on the steps of a palace.
Die geflügelte Iris, auf einer Wolke mit Regenbogen gelagert, erscheint dem Turnus auf den Stufen eines Palastes. (Suerbaum)
Engraving from a German children’s picture-book version of the Aeneid by G. J. Lang and G. C. Eimmart, “A tapestry of Roman virtues as seen in Vergil’s Aeneas and his brave deeds, rendered in sparkling engravings, as illustrations of the remarkable deeds of antiquity, for the common benefit of noble youth,” (Peplus virtutum Romanarum in Aenea Virgiliano eiusque rebus fortiter gestis, ad maiorem antiquitatis et rerum lucem, communi iuventutis sacratae bono, aere renitens) (Nuremburg: J.L. Buggel, 1688), pl. 39.
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Associated Passages
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Properties
Agent
Date
1688
Culture
Medium
Dimensions
21.86x16.92cm
Inscription
Lib: IX. Aen. v.1. Atque ea diversa penitus dum parte geruntur,/ Irim de caelo misit Saturnia Iuno etc./ usque 15.
Location
Bavarian State Library, Munich
Image Credit
Iris is, as always, shown with a rainbow and wings. Suerbaum identifies the setting as a palace, but Virgil says that Iris appears to the young man in a valley sacred to his father, “luco tum forte parentis/ Pilumni Turnus sacrata valle sedebat” (IX 3-4). The feet of the statue that can be seen in the upper right hand corner are probably a statue of Pilumnus; the burning offerings and jugs beneath the statue as well as the three-steps and columns seem to point to the setting being a hero shrine. (Lucy McInerney)