Von Manthone · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture · Center for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Von Manthone
Subject: Manto; Important Women; Famous Women; Seers; Prophetess; Tiresias; Greek Mythology
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Thebes; Ancient Greece
Description: This engraving depicts Manto, the daughter of the famous seer Tiresias. She is depicted with her body leaning over a burning fire and looking at a creature with the head of a boar. Boccaccio explains that Manto became an incredible seer just like her father. She used the movement and colour of the fire’s flames to tell the future, which is why there is a fire in the engraving. She also used the entrails of animals such as sheep and oxen for signs of the future. There is an ox on the right side of the image and a sheep on the left, both dead. The ox has its organs sticking out from its body. The distinct looking creature that Manto is looking at represents her involvement in the dark arts and summoning spirits and gods from the underworld.
Image Creator: Joerg Breu (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:18314
Language: ger
Source Name: Ein schöne Cronica oder Hystoribuch von den fürnämlichsten Weybern [A beautiful chronicle or history book of reputable women]
Parent Collection: 1543 Stayner; 1543 Stayner
Image: mta_18314_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Manto; Important Women; Famous Women; Seers; Prophetess; Tiresias; Greek Mythology