Wie eine Göttin oder auf allen Vieren Die Kaisertochter in Darstellungen von ‚Vergils Rache‘ im Kontext mittelalterlicher Sachkultur

Abstract

In the Middle Ages, the tale of Virgil and the Roman emperor’s daughter—one of the ‘power of women’ stories—appears as a literary motif before it was depicted on objects. ‘Virgil’s revenge,’ the second part of the story, is depicted more rarely. That is when Virgil retaliates using magic: The hearth fires go out all over Rome, and they can be relit only from the lap of the emperor’s daughter, so she must expose herself in public. Already around 1400, this scene can be found on stove tiles from the latrine of the Augustinian monastery in Freiburg i. Br. or on the decorated back of ivory writing tablets, likely of Parisian origin. Comparing examples of depictions of ‘Virgil’s revenge’ from around 1350 to 1550 reveals two different types developing simultaneously: on the one hand, the emperor’s daughter is half-dressed or nude as the dominant figure incorporating aspects of Venus, Eve and Holy Mary; on the other hand, she is depicted in an animal pose mirroring Aristotle being ridden by Phyllis. Between these extremes of triumph and humiliation, transitions can be observed.