Dido, in her frenzied grief, has built a pyre upon which to burn Aeneas' belongings as well as the bed that they shared. When she sees the Trojan ships sailing away, she flings herself on the bed and stabs herself with Aeneas' sword. Here, Anna climbs up to her dying sister while the goddess Iris, sent by Juno, cuts a lock of the Queen's hair to release her soul and allow her to die. In the background, Aeneas' fleet vanishes in the distance.
Details
- Artist Name: Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Italian, 1612-1662)
- Title: The Death of Dido
- Date: c. 1646
- Medium: Gouache and black chalk on paper, laid down on canvas
- Dimensions: 109-3/8 x 164-1/2 in. (277.8 x 417.8 cm)
- Credit Line: Norton Simon Art Foundation
- Accession Number: M.1969.27.P
- Copyright: © Norton Simon Art Foundation
Object Information
Once Upon a Tapestry: Woven Tales of Helen and Dido
- Norton Simon Museum, 2018-12-07 to 2019-05-27
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- Rubinstein, Ruth, Art at Auction: The Year at Southeby's & Parke-Bernet, 1968-1969, 1969, fig. 23 pp. 106-119
- Bean, Jacob, 17th Century Italian Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979, p. 243
- Swain, M., Tapestries and Textiles: Palace of Holyroodhouse, 1988, p. 22
- Carolyn Vaolne, "Women on the Quirinal Hill: Patronage in Rome, 1560-1630", 1994, no. 21 p. 145
- Kerber, B., Geissener Beiträge zur Kunstgeschichte, 1997, p. 73, n. 34
- Oy-Marra, Elizabeth, The Diplomacy of Art: Artistic Creation and Politics in Seicento Italy, 2000, pp. 183-185, ill fig. 4-5
- Campbell, Sara, Collector Without Walls: Norton Simon and His Hunt for the Best, 2010, cat. 593 p. 316
- Larochette, Jean Pierre and Yadin, The Anatomy of a Tapestry: Processes, Materials, Care, 2020, p. 17 (ill.)
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