De Coniugibus Cymbron · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: De Coniugibus Cymbron
Subject: Important Women; Cimbrian Wives; Chastity; Virtue; Honour; Suicide; Famous Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Italy; Ancient Rome
Description: This engraving depicts the wives of the Cimbrians (a northern tribes-people) killing their children and hanging themselves. After their husbands were defeated in war against the Romans, the wives pleaded to their enemies for mercy and to let them become vestal virgins. When the Romans denied their request, they decided to kill their own children and hang themselves to save their virtue and to not die at the hands of their enemies. The word “Cimbre” is engraved at the bottom of the image which translates to the word “Cimbri” (the name of their tribe). Some women in the image are depicted with the nooses around their necks, and one woman is depicted killing her child before killing herself.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:16691
Language: lat
Source Name: De Claris Mulieribus
Parent Collection: 1473 Ulm; 1473 Ulm
Image: mta_16691_OBJ.jpg
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Important Women; Cimbrian Wives; Chastity; Virtue; Honour; Suicide; Famous Women