Annotations
This engraving shows Aeneas and the Sibyl in the forecourt of the Underworld.
Aeneas mit der Sibylle im Vorhof der Unterwelt. (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. 24.
Online Resources
Associated Passages
License
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Properties
Agent
Date
1688
Culture
Medium
Dimensions
21.86x16.92cm
Inscription
Lib. VI. Aen: v. 273. Vestibulum ante ipsum, primusque in faucibus Orci/ Luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae:/ usque 282.
Location
Bavarian State Library, Munich
Image Credit
At the entrance to the underworld in lines 275 through 281 Aeneas encounters “pale Disease,” “sad Old Age,” “Fear,” “seductive Fame,” “filthy Need,” “Death,” “Pain,” “Sleep,” “evil Pleasure of the mind,” “death-dealing War,” and “insane Discord, her hair of vipers tied up with bloody bands.” This last one is seen in the right foreground of the engraving clutching three snakes in one hand. Aeneas and the Sibyl are illuminated by an unknown source of light, while the figures she gestures to are invariably in the dark. (Lucy McInerney)