Poetry personified as a winged woman 1510 - 1520

This engraving presents Poetry personified as a winged woman, floating on clouds, flanked by putti. The laurel wreath adorning her head is the most dominant symbol. In antiquity, the wreath signified high status, victory, and intellectual prowess. We see this motif echoed through time, gracing the heads of emperors, athletes, and poets. The poet Virgil, in numerous depictions, wears such a wreath, and even today, doctoral regalia often include laurel wreaths, signifying scholarly achievement. Notice her wings, emblems of divine inspiration, raising her to a different realm, and the serpents that twist around her, embodying wisdom and knowledge. This interplay, divine inspiration and earthly knowledge, is what poetry embodies: a psychological dance between conscious understanding and subconscious depths. The image reminds us that poetry, as a carrier of cultural memory, evolves through historical contexts, continually resurfacing and adapting, demonstrating the cyclical nature of symbols and their enduring power.