De Cloelia: virgen romana · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Cloelia: virgen romana
Subject: Famous Women; Cloelia; Hostages; Important Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Italy; Ancient Rome
Description: This engraving depicts Cloelia, a young Roman woman, riding a horse through a deep river with many women looking at her. Boccaccio explains that Cloelia was given to a foreign king as a hostage, and when she escaped, she took many other hostages with her to get back to Rome. While escaping, she came across a river that was too treacherous to pass. She found a horse, and despite never having ridden one, she got herself and the other women across safely by means of this horse. This image depicts her taking the other women across the river one by one as there is only one other female on the horse with Cloelia. We know that this figure on the horse is Cloelia as her name is engraved above her head.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:16674
Language: spa
Source Name: De Las Mujeres Ilustres [On Famous Women]
Parent Collection: 1494 Mujeres Ilustres; 1494 Mujeres Ilustres
Image: mta_16674_OBJ.png
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Famous Women; Cloelia; Hostages; Important Women