Ceres dea frugu et Siculon regia · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Ceres dea frugu et Siculon regia
Subject: Ceres; Agriculture; Harvest; Roman Mythology; Goddesses
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Ancient Italy; Italian Countryside
Description: Ceres is illustrated on the left-hand side of the engraving wearing a crown and holding a scepter. We know this is Ceres as her name is engraved horizontally adjacent to her body. We also know this is Ceres as she is the goddess of harvest, which is what this engraving depicts. Boccaccio explains that after discovering agriculture, Ceres had tamed oxen and trained them to yoke. She also discovered planting seeds and then taught men how to harvest them once they matured. There is one man plowing the fields with the oxen, and another in the background husking grain. There is another man with a bag of flour over his head, as Ceres also taught men how to turn flour into an edible fare. Ceres wears the crown and scepter to signify her importance linked to agriculture and harvest.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:11906
Language: lat
Source Name: De Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1473 Ulm
Image: mta_11906_OBJ.jpg