Claudia Quinta der Römerin · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Claudia Quinta der Römerin
Period: 1500-1550;
Geographic: Ancient Rome; Italy
Description: This engraving depicts Claudia Quinta, a Roman woman, standing on land as she pulls a ship to shore. Boccaccio explains that after Claudia Quinta was accused by other matrons of not being chaste, she prayed to the goddess Ceres to help prove her virtue. After a ship that contained a statue of Ceres had gotten stuck on a sandbar, Ceres gave Claudia Quinta the power to pull the ship to shore as proof of her chastity. The women who accused Claudia Quinta of being unchaste are standing behind her in the engraving as they watch her pull the ship to shore. The statue of the goddess is illustrated on top of a platform on the ship. There are two men sitting on the boat holding oars.
Image Creator: Joerg Breu (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:18399
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_18399_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Claudia Quinta; Important Women; Famous Women; Chastity; Ceres; Goddesses; Roman Mythology