Dido's Suicide

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Abandoned by her lover, the Trojan hero Aeneas, the devastated Dido, Queen of Carthage, stands on a pyre composed of his armour and his gifts to her. She is about to plunge a knife into her breast, watched from the arcades and balconies around the square by her subjects.

This panel’s dimensions suggest that it came from a spalliere, a painting set into the panelling of a room, rather than a cassone (a large chest) as has long been thought. Both often showed tales from classical poetry or history, many illustrating the consequences of good and bad behaviour for husbands and wives. Dido was seen as a warning against uncontrolled female sexuality: in Dante’s Inferno, she was condemned to hell for her consuming passion for Aeneas.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Dido's Suicide

Date

early 16th century

Medium

Oil on poplar

Measurements

H 42.5 x W 123.2 cm

Accession number

NG1336

Acquisition method

Bought, 1891

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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