Pyramus and Thisbe
Medium
chiaroscuro woodcut
Classification
Department
Prints
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1950.396
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
male
About this artwork
In Metamorphoses, written by the Roman poet Ovid (43 BC–AD 17), the parents of Pyramus and Thisbe forbid them to marry, so the young lovers conspire to meet at a mulberry tree beside a spring. Thisbe arrives first, but flees when she sees a lion fresh from a kill. She accidentally drops her veil, which the lion bloodies while playing with it. When Pyramus arrives, he finds the bloody veil, falsely concludes that Thisbe had been killed, and plunges his sword into his side. Here, Thisbe discovers ...