[Arachne Hangs Herself After a Weaving Competition with Minerva] · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: [Arachne Hangs Herself After a Weaving Competition with Minerva]
Subject: Weaving; Minerva; Suicide; Transformation; Arachne; Important Women; Famous Women
Period: 1450-1500;
Geographic: Colophon; Lydia; Asia Minor
Description: This engraving depicts Arachne killing herself by means of hanging. We know that this is Arachne as her name is engraved beside her body. There is a loom on the right-hand side of the engraving and a net to the left of the loom. Boccaccio explains in his story that Arachne is known by ancient writers as being the one who discovered the uses of woven wool and the first to make nets. Arachne became too confident in her wool work and challenged Minerva to a weaving competition. After the goddess had won, Arachne hung herself, as depicted in the engraving. There is a spider on a spider-web on the left side of the engraving, as Arachne is said to have been transformed into a spider after this event.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Engraver)
Type: Text; Woodcut Engraving
Identifier: mta:17972
Language: ger
Source Name: Hyenach volget der kurcz syn von ettlichen frauen von denen johannes boccacius in latein beschriben hat und doctor heinricus stainhöwel geteütschet [Following the short stories of several women of which Giovanni Boccaccio wrote in Latin, and doctor Heinrich Steinhöwel translated]
Parent Collection: 1473 Augsburg; 1473 Augsburg
Image: mta_17972_OBJ.png
Collection: Early Modern Women
Subject: Weaving; Minerva; Suicide; Transformation; Arachne; Important Women; Famous Women

Media: mta_17972_OBJ.png