Rembrandt.Artemisia. 1634.
Oil on canvas. Museo del Prado, Madrid, Spain. More.
Artemisia was the wife of Masolus, the satrap
of Caria in Asia Minor. She succeeded her husband on his death in 353 B.C.
She mixed the ashes of Masolus in liquid and then drank it, making herself
‘a living breathing tomb’. She then erected a great monument to his
memory at Halicarnassus – hence ‘mausoleum’. It was one of the seven wonders
of the ancient world. Artemisia symbolizes a widow’s devotion to her husband’s
memory.
