[The Wives of the Cimbrians Killing Themselves and their Children] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [The Wives of the Cimbrians Killing Themselves and their Children]
Subject: Important Women; Famous Women; Cimbrian Wives; Cimbri; Chastity; Suicide
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Ancient Rome; Italy
Description: This engraving depicts the wives of the Cimbrians (a northern Germanic tribe) killing their children and hanging themselves. After their husbands were defeated in war against the Romans, the wives pleaded to their enemies for mercy and to let them become vestal virgins. When the Romans denied their request, they decided to kill their own children and hang themselves to save their virtue and to not die at the hands of their enemies. The woman on the right side of the image has already hung herself, while the women on the left side of the engraving are depicted killing their children before killing themselves.
Image Creator: Joerg Breu (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:18400
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_18400_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Important Women; Famous Women; Cimbrian Wives; Cimbri; Chastity; Suicide