[The Goddess Ceres Discovering Agriculture] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [The Goddess Ceres Discovering Agriculture]
Subject: Roman Mythology; Agriculture; Harvest; Ceres; Important Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Italy; Sicily
Description: This illustration depicts Ceres, goddess of the harvest, discovering agriculture as she sows seeds into the furrows of the ground. She is carrying the seeds in her apron and holding them up with her left hand as she spreads the seeds onto the ground with her right. The rest of her seeds are in a large white bag in the background. There are modern looking houses in the background as the illustration was made in the 15th century. Boccaccio explains that Ceres was a mortal woman before people began regarding her as the goddess of harvest and agriculture.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Illuminator)
Type: Text; Illumination
Identifier: mta:11979
Language: frm
Source Name: De la louenge et vertu des nobles et cleres dames [Of praise and virtue of the noble and clergy women]
Parent Collection: 1493 Paris
Image: mta_11979_OBJ.jpg