De Yrene Cratini filia · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Yrene Cratini filia
Subject: Important Women; Famous Women; Irene; Cratinus
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Ancient Greece
Description: There are two women by the name of Irene that Boccaccio describes in his book. One was a empress of the Eastern Roman Empire. This engraving depicts Empress Irene as she is handed the globus cruciger. This engraving, however, is wrongly placed in the book as this engraving is meant to depict the other Irene that is discussed in the book. Irene was a Greek woman and a renowned, skillful painter during her time which Boccaccio believed to deserve praise as the arts were not a common practice of women. Boccaccio explains that Irene was the daughter of a man named Cratinus, who was also a painter (although much less renown).
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:26112
Language: lat
Source Name: De Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1473 Augsburg
Image: mta_26112_OBJ.jpg