The Death of Dido

A pen and brown wash sketch shows a woman lying on a pyre of logs, attended by mourners and a figure leaning in from the right. A winged figure hovers above, and an arched doorway stands at left. Loose wash gives the scene a dramatic, mournful energy.

Look closer: A faint inscription or signature is written in the lower center of the sheet.

Artist

Francesco Allegrini

Date

1624–63

Medium

Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink on mount

Source

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Size

2357 × 1684 px

Credit (appreciated, not required for public-domain works): The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Cornelius Vanderbilt, 1880