Beronice der Künigin von Cappadocia · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Beronice der Künigin von Cappadocia
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Anatolia; Modern day Turkey; Cappadocia
Description: This engraving depicts Berenice, the queen of Cappadocia, about to stab a servant in his abdominal area to avenge her sons’ deaths. After her sons had died at the hand of her brother, Mithridates, Berenice sought vengeance against him. The slave that Berenice is stabbing in this engraving is Caenus, a man who was involved in the murder of her sons. Although she is depicted stabbing him with a sword in this engraving, Boccaccio explains in his story that she actually chased Caenus down in a chariot, and after hitting him in the head with a rock, she drove over his body with the chariot until he died. The dead figures in the engraving who are lying on the ground are assumed to be Berenice’s children.
Image Creator: Joerg Breu (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:18396
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_18396_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Caeneus; Important Women; Famous Women; Important Queens; Revenge; Berenice