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Georg Pencz

The Courtesan Punished, from The Story of the Magician Virgil

1541/42
Engraving in black on ivory laid paper
5.8 × 8.2 cm (2.3 × 3.2 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Furious at his romantic failure and at being exposed by his would-be paramour (as seen in the nearby Pencz engraving, 1919.2313), Virgil is said to have devised a cunning revenge that will seem cruel and misogynistic to contemporary viewers. In a reference to the supposedly insatiable lust of women, Virgil caused all of the fires in Rome to go out and an enchanted flame to issue forth from the emperor’s daughter’s genitals. This engraving shows her shame as she helps light all the lanterns of Rome.

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