Dido faz Sacrifícios aos Deuses pelo Amor de Eneias

In the foreground, on the left of the composition, there are two female figures identified by the inscriptions “ANNA” e “DIDO”. Dido holds a stick pointing to an altar where she is making meat sacrifices, with the help of Anna, her sister. A cow looks at the altar and Dido pours a libation on it. On her right side, there is a priest. Behind these three figures stands a structure with a sort of altar, where it is featured a lying lamb, a Christian allegory of sacrifice. On the right side of the composition a second group of figures is gathering, two of which are identified as “ASCANIO” e “ENEAS”. In the background, there are buildings and two other figures. The presence of Aeneas and his son, absent from the description of Aeneid, shows the synoptic intentions of the artist who thus follows the illustration of the edition of 1502. Being a reproduction of Grüninger’s illustration No. 91 for the aforementioned edition of 1502, the enamel portrays the moment when, after confessing her love for Aeneas to her sister Ana, Dido performs sacrifices and libations to get the love of the Trojan hero (Aeneid 4.56-64): “First they visit the shrines and sue for peace at every altar: duly they slay chosen sheep to Ceres the law-giver, to Phoebus and father Lyaeus, before all to Juno, guardian of wedlock bonds. Dido herself, matchless in beauty, with cup in hand, pours libation midway between the horns of a white heifer, or in presence of the gods moves slowly to the rich altars, and solemnizes the day with gifts, then gazing into the opened breasts of victims, consults the quivering entrails.” (Aeneid, p. 401)