Battle of Troy from Virgil's Aeneid

Label

Once part of a book, this page illustrates the Battle of Troy from Virgil’s Aeneid. Beginning with the story of the Greek fight against the city of Troy, the famous epic poem remained widely read and translated over the centuries. This ancient war scene has been transferred to late medieval Germany. Crenelated towers rise in the background, while the troops massing and ready for battle on either side wear contemporary armor. Banderoles with names throughout help identify the characters. At the center of the image, one woman looks on, her face contorted in pain. Labelled above as Cassandra, she famously warned of the fall of Troy. Fated to tell the truth but not be believed, she can only witness helplessly as her prophecies of bloody defeat unfold.

From the exhibition Recording War: Images of Violence 1500 – 1900, curated by Elizabeth Rice Mattison, Andrew W. Mellon Associate Curator of Academic Programming

Course History

ARTH 27.02, Living Stone: Sculpture in Early Modern Italy, Elizabeth Kassler-Taub, Winter 2022

Anthropology 3.01, Introduction to Anthropology, Charis Ford Morrison Boke 1, Summer 2023

Studio Art 27.01/28.01/74.01, Printmaking I/II/III, Josh Dannin, Summer 2024

Exhibition History

Recording War: Images of Violence, 1500-1900, Ivan Albright Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, August 23-December 9, 2023.

Provenance

Source unknown; catalogued, 1972.

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