The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

The Power of Women: The Poet Virgil Suspended in a Basket

The Power of Women: The Poet Virgil Suspended in a Basket

c. 1512
(Dutch, 1494–1533)
Netherlands, 16th century
woodcut
Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in memory of Charles T. Brooks 1935.116
Catalogue raisonné: Hollstein 89
Location: not on view

Description

This woodcut is from a series depicting the power of women, a popular early 16th-century theme. The series highlights a woman’s capacity to use beauty, charm, and ruse to thwart even the cleverest men. Here, Van Leyden illustrated the cunning of the Roman emperor’s daughter. According to legend, the poet Virgil fell in love with the maiden, but she objected and punished him for his impudence. After promising to raise Virgil to her bedroom window in a basket, she left him hanging halfway. The printmaker omitted the emperor’s daughter from the scene but added the woman advising her son against such folly.
  • Peter Gellatly
    Paul J. Sachs
    Peter Gellatly; Paul J. Sachs
  • Main Gallery Rotation (Gallery 114): June 23, 2014 - December 22, 2014.
    Against the Grain: Woodcuts from the Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 17-November 9, 2003).
    Eight Masters of the Print. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (October 14, 1980-January 18, 1981).
    40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Print Club of Cleveland. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (December 3, 1959-January 20, 1960).
    The Silver Jubilee Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 23-September 28, 1941).
    Prints by Lucas Van Leyden and His Contemporaries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 28-April 2, 1939).
    Inaugural Exhibition of the New Print Gallery - Prints from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 10-November 13, 1938).
    Prints Accessioned in 1935. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 14-November 8, 1936).
  • {{cite web|title=The Power of Women: The Poet Virgil Suspended in a Basket|url=false|author=Lucas van Leyden|year=c. 1512|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1935.116