Petrarch’s Triumphs Map – Dido
The Queen of Carthage, the fire of passion, and a miniature to experience every day
Double-sided reproduction of sheet 83r–83v of Francesco Petrarca’s Triumphs, in a limited and numbered edition of 199 copies, with Fine Art printing and gold decorations.Want more information about this product? Click here and fill out the form to be contacted by one of our curators.
149,00 €
- Description
Description
Description
A queen, a city, a passion
Dido is not just the woman abandoned by Aeneas. She is the ruler who fled Tyre, led her people, and founded Carthage, transforming a loss into a new civilization. In Petrarch’s Triumphs, however, such a powerful figure also enters the procession of those conquered by Love: a choice that makes this miniature intense, universal, and surprisingly modern.
The Triumphs Card – Dido brings one of the most dramatic images from Vienna Codex 2581 into your home. Produced in just 199 numbered copies, with a certificate and a 24-month Antiquus guarantee, it is not simply a decorative print, but a collector’s item capable of raising new questions every day about the power of passion, destiny, and human fragility.
The Suicide of Dido, sheet 83v
The miniaturist concentrates the entire tragedy in a scene of great visual power. At the center, the pyre burns; beside the flames, Dido, still crowned and wrapped in a black robe, stabs herself with a sword. In the foreground, a group of witnesses look on with gestures of dismay, while in the background, the city remains: Carthage, the work destined to outlive its founder.
The crown recalls royalty, the blade the final act, the fire makes visible a passion that has become destructive. The artist does not merely depict a moment from the Aeneid: he encapsulates in a single image the grandeur, the pain, and the fate of Dido.
A work that changes with the light
The Fine Art print restores the rich colors of the original page, while the gold decorations take on different reflections depending on the viewing angle and the ambient light. The architectural frame, the crown, the flames, and the small ornamental details emerge with a presence that photographs can suggest but can only be truly understood in person.
In the vertical format of 21 × 32.5 cm, the scene retains the elegance of the manuscript page and is ideal for framing in a study, a library, a living room, or a professional space where art and culture can become a daily presence.
Why Choose the Dido Triumph Card?
Because it tells the story of one of the most fascinating female figures in Western literature.
Because it unites Virgil, Petrarch, and the art of miniature painting in a single page.
Because the limited and numbered edition of 199 copies makes it a true collector’s item.
Because it is handcrafted in Italy with Fine Art printing and gold decorations.
Because it doesn’t simply fill a wall: it carries a story worth knowing and telling.
Product Features
- Work: The Triumphs of Francesco Petrarca
- Author: Francesco Petrarca
- Period of the original manuscript: 16th century / early 16th century
- Subject of the card: Dido’s suicide
- Reference sheet: 83r-83v
- Original code: Cod. 2581
- Library of the original: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Vienna
- Iconographic cycle: Triumph of Love
- Front: Old French manuscript text, folio 83r
- Back: Full-page miniature of Dido’s suicide, folio 83v
- Dimension: 21 x 32,5 cm
- Type: Collectible illuminated card
- Edition: Limited and numbered edition of 199 copies
- Material: Special paper
- Print: Fine art with gold decorations
- Production: Italian artisanal
- Attachments to the work: Certificate, 24-month Antiquus guarantee, conservation instructions and brief description of the work
- Price: 149,00 euro
- Warranty: 24 months
Antiquus quality and services
Each Antiquus manuscript is designed to bring pages normally held in large libraries closer to everyday life. The work comes with a certificate, a 24-month Antiquus guarantee, care instructions, and a brief description. It travels with protected shipping and benefits from a 30-day right of return.
Discover the story behind the work
The article introduces the work; the Antiquus blog provides insight into its history. In the first article, we recount Dido, from Tyre to the founding of Carthage and her encounter with Aeneas. In the second, we learn to read the miniature and delve deeper into the dialogue between Virgil’s Fate, Petrarch’s Christian sensibility, and free will.
Internal Link 1: Dido, Queen of Carthage: The Woman Who Transformed Grief into a City
Internal Link 2: How to Read a Miniature? Dido in Petrarch’s Triumphs
FAQ – Petrarch’s Triumphs Map: Dido
It reproduces folio 83v of Petrarch’s Triumphs, in which Dido stabs herself with a sword next to the pyre, while some witnesses witness the scene and Carthage appears in the background.
Dido, also called Elissa, is the legendary founder of Carthage and one of the most famous protagonists of Virgil’s Aeneid.
Petrarch includes her in the Triumph of Love among the illustrious figures who, despite their strength and greatness, were overcome by passion.
In the miniature she does not throw herself into the flames: she is depicted while stabbing herself with the sword next to the funeral pyre, according to the episode narrated by Virgilian tradition.
The commentary describes them as witnesses to the event, all in a state of horror. They are not individually identified and primarily serve the function of making visible the dismay of the court or community.
Codex 2581 is preserved at the Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, the Austrian National Library in Vienna.
No. It is a double-sided Fine Art reproduction, in a limited and numbered edition, taken from the original manuscript from the early sixteenth century.
Yes. Gold reflects the light and adds depth to the frame, flames, and ornamental details. The actual effect is richer than a photograph can show.
The paper is delivered with a certificate, guarantee, storage instructions and a brief description of the work.
Yes. It’s an original choice for those who love Virgil, Petrarch, history, medieval and Renaissance art, or who desire an elegant and uncommon cultural work.
