Athalie royne de Jerusalem · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Athalie royne de Jerusalem
Subject: Important Women; Famous Women; Important Queens; Athaliah
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Levant; Israel; Jerusalem
Description: This illuminated depicts Athaliah, queen of Jerusalem, sitting on a throne while holding a scepter and touching the arm of a guard. The guard is looking at the queen and holding onto a lance with his left hand and the handle of his sword with his right. Boccaccio explains that Athaliah’s father was the king of Israel, and her husband was the king of Jerusalem. When her husband died, and her son (who succeeded his father) died, she seized power and slaughtered the descendants of David to avoid anyone taking her power and throne. This image depicts Athaliah giving orders to her guard to slaughter her relatives.
Image Creator: Robinet Testard (Illuminator)
Type: Text; Illumination
Identifier: mta:18021
Language: frm
Source Name: Boccace, Des cleres et nobles femmes, traduction française anonyme [Boccaccio, The cleric and noble women, anonymous French translation]
Parent Collection: Boccace, Des cleres et nobles femmes, traduction française anonyme. Illuminations by Robinet Testard (1488-1496)
Image: mta_18021_OBJ.jpg