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Both practical and fashionable, fans were essential accessories for elite European women in the 1700s. Often decorated with elaborate motifs, a fan could reveal information about its wearer. It might expose a woman’s artistic or literary tastes, divulge her politics, or disclose her knowledge of current cultural conversations. The design seen here represents an episode from <em>The Aeneid</em>, a Latin epic poem, suggesting the owner’s interest in recent translations of classical poetry. It could also operate as a metaphor for the Enlightenment: seen entering a cave at right, the hero, Aeneas, travels through the underworld where he faces harrowing challenges and converses with the dead before emerging newly enlightened and victorious.
Page data
- Page
- 1
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- 344cfcea2bbb42b7
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 120821
- Core
- obj
- Type
- drawing
DTO data
{
"id": "120821",
"contentType": "drawing",
"title": "Aeneas in the Underworld, Design for a Fan",
"description": "Both practical and fashionable, fans were essential accessories for elite European women in the 1700s. Often decorated with elaborate motifs, a fan could reveal information about its wearer. It might expose a woman’s artistic or literary tastes, divulge her politics, or disclose her knowledge of current cultural conversations. The design seen here represents an episode from <em>The Aeneid</em>, a Latin epic poem, suggesting the owner’s interest in recent translations of classical poetry. It could also operate as a metaphor for the Enlightenment: seen entering a cave at right, the hero, Aeneas, travels through the underworld where he faces harrowing challenges and converses with the dead before emerging newly enlightened and victorious.",
"date": "after 1730",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.547",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
"Q80016460"
],
"creators": [
1888
],
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"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.547/1941.547_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Sheet: 27.2 x 54.8 cm (10 11/16 x 21 9/16 in.); Secondary Support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.); Tertiary Support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"France, 18th century"
],
"accession": "1941.547"
}
Context sent to Scholar
Document identity
{
"localId": "120821",
"label": "Aeneas in the Underworld, Design for a Fan",
"core": "obj",
"dtoType": "drawing"
}
Document source metadata
{
"id": "120821",
"contentType": "drawing",
"title": "Aeneas in the Underworld, Design for a Fan",
"description": "Both practical and fashionable, fans were essential accessories for elite European women in the 1700s. Often decorated with elaborate motifs, a fan could reveal information about its wearer. It might expose a woman’s artistic or literary tastes, divulge her politics, or disclose her knowledge of current cultural conversations. The design seen here represents an episode from <em>The Aeneid</em>, a Latin epic poem, suggesting the owner’s interest in recent translations of classical poetry. It could also operate as a metaphor for the Enlightenment: seen entering a cave at right, the hero, Aeneas, travels through the underworld where he faces harrowing challenges and converses with the dead before emerging newly enlightened and victorious.",
"date": "after 1730",
"citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.547",
"rights": "CC0",
"rightsUri": "CC0",
"language": "en",
"wikidata": [
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],
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1888
],
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],
"iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.547/1941.547_web.jpg",
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"largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.547/1941.547_web.jpg",
"imageCount": 1,
"source": "import",
"dimensionsRaw": "Sheet: 27.2 x 54.8 cm (10 11/16 x 21 9/16 in.); Secondary Support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.); Tertiary Support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.)",
"cul": [
"France, 18th century"
],
"accession": "1941.547"
}
Document source extras
{
"tec": "watercolor and gouache",
"tombstone": "Aeneas in the Underworld, Design for a Fan, after 1730. Follower of François Boucher (French, 1703–1770). Watercolor and gouache; sheet: 27.2 x 54.8 cm (10 11/16 x 21 9/16 in.); secondary support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.); tertiary support: 35.2 x 64.7 cm (13 7/8 x 25 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Otto Miller, 1941.547",
"supportMaterials": [
{
"description": "laid paper, laid down on two pieces (joined) of brown laid paper, laid down on a tertiary support of cream(3) laid paper"
}
],
"collection": "DR - French",
"didYouKnow": "The 1700s is often considered to be a golden age of fan design.",
"url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1941.547",
"creditline": "Gift of Mrs. Otto Miller",
"updatedAt": "2026-06-02 11:23:17.499000",
"imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1941.547/1941.547_print.jpg",
"sourceId": 120821,
"dept": "Drawings",
"coll": "DR - French",
"med": "watercolor and gouache",
"creatorTags": [
"male"
],
"thumbnail_url": null,
"image_url": null
}
Page context
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