De Arthimesia regina carie · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Arthimesia regina carie
Subject: Important Queens; Devotion; Artemisia; Cremation; Important Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Caria; Halicarnassus; Anatolia
Description: Artemisia was married to Mausolus, the king of Caria. Boccaccio explains that when he died, Artemisia was so grieved by his death that, instead of putting his ashes in an urn after his cremation, she drank the ashes in order to be closer to him. The right side of the engraving depicts Artemisia cremating her husband’s body in a fire. Mausolus’ name is engraved in front of the fire to identify him. Artemisia is illustrated scooping her husband’s ashes and putting them into a bag. The left side of the engraving depicts Artemisia drinking her husband’s ashes. We know that this figure is Artemisia as her name, written as Arthimesia, is engraved above her head.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:11962
Language: lat
Source Name: De Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1473 Ulm
Image: mta_11962_OBJ.png