Peter Paul Rubens / Tomyris with the Head of Cyrus / c. 1633/38

Peter Paul Rubens
Tomyris with the Head of Cyrus
c. 1633/38
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Creator Name: Rubens, Peter Paul
Creator Nationality: European; Flemish
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: 1577 - 1640
Gender: M
Creator Birth Place: Seigen, Westphalia
Creator Death Place: Antwerp
Creator Name-CRT: Peter Paul Rubens
Title: Tomyris with the Head of Cyrus
Title Type: Primary
Title: Tomyris and Cyrus
Title Type: Exhibition
Title: Tomyris met het Hoofd van Cyrus
Title Type: Foreign
View: Full View
Creation Start Date: 1633
Creation End Date: 1638
Creation Date: c. 1633/38
Creation Start Date: 1637
Creation Date: c. 1637-1638
Object Type: Drawings and Watercolors
Classification Term: Drawing
Materials and Techniques: pen and brown ink, with black and red chalk
Dimensions: Sheet: 27.2cm x 47.2cm, Secondary Support: 27.6cm x 47.3cm
Inscriptions: by artist, center, in brown ink: plus spatij
AMICA Contributor: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Owner Location: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
ID Number: 1954.2.b
Credit Line: Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds
Rights: http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html
Provenance: unidentified collector, possibly Viennese (Lugt 622, verso, lower right, in black ink). [Herbert N. Bier].
Context: This subject is oddly related to that seen on the other side of the sheet: both feature a severed head, the result of an act of revenge carried out by a powerful woman. The story of Queen Tomyris is a rare one in northern European art. Tomyris ruled a central Asian tribe, and her son died while held captiveby Cyrus, the king of Persia. Years later, Tomyris avenged her son's death when her armies defeated the Persians in battle and she found Cyrus's body and cut off the head. Rubens probably took the story from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (about 484-425 bc).
AMICA ID: CMA_.1954.2.b
AMICA Library Year: 2001
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright, The Cleveland Museum of Art

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