The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas
Francesco di Giorgio Martini, The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas, ca. 1480, tempera on wood, Gift of The Samuel H. Kress Foundation, public domain, 61.36
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- Title
The Meeting of Dido and Aeneas
- Artist
- Date
ca. 1480
- Period
High Renaissance (late 15th-1520s)
- Medium
tempera on wood
- Dimensions (H x W x D)
14 3/4 in x 43 3/8 in
- Collection Area
European Art
- Category
Paintings
- Object Type
painting
- Culture
Italian
- Credit Line
Gift of The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
- Accession Number
61.36
- Copyright
public domain
- Terms
- Place Made
Created in: Siena
This panel was once part of a cassone, or wedding chest, created in the studio of the Sienese artist and architect, Francesco di Giorgio. It depicts the story of Dido and Aeneas from Virgil's Aeneid, an epic poem from the first century BCE. Such portrayals reflect the renewed interest in the ancient past characteristic of the Renaissance.
The panel is divided into two scenes: On the right the poem's hero, Aeneas, arrives in the city of Carthage; on the left he is presented to Queen Dido, who falls passionately in love with him only to be abandoned when the god Jupiter commands Aeneas to return to his quest to found the city of Rome.
