Lambert Lombard (Liège 1506-1566)

The elongated figures drawn with strong linear outlines can be compared to a large number of sheets by the artist (see, for example, G. Denhaene, Lambert Lombard. Renaissance et humanisme à Liège, Antwerp, 1990, figs. 95-102, 158-167 and 342). A similar static arrangement of the figures, in rather solid rectangular shaped groups, can also be found in a drawing by Lombard in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 1975.131.241; G. Denhaene, op. cit., fig. 341).

According to a medieval legend, the first century B.C. Roman poet Virgil fell in love with the Roman emperor's daughter. She promised to raise the poet to her bedroom one night, but instead left him dangling halfway to be mocked by the public the following day. Belonging to a popular sixteenth-century theme, the power of woman, the tale intended as a warning of women's ability to make a fool of even the wisest and craftiest man.