Teuta, 2018

Rebecca Rosen  

Reading the history of art through the feminist prism regularly crosses the work of Rebecca Rosen: we find her in her illustration / print project "The Power of Women", in which she diverts the series of engravings from the same name created in the 16th century by Lucas Van Leyden.

A series of six two-color serigraphs were printed in only 5 copies. They are signed and numbered by the artist.

Following the death of her husband, Teuta (? -227 BCE) became queen of the kingdom of Ardiae which covered the territory of what we now call Montenegro and Albania. The Ardia Pirates, under the protection of their queen, attacked the trade routes in the Mediterranean, testing the power of Rome, which sought absolute control of the sea. Diplomatic envoys were dispatched by Rome to negotiate with Teuta, who defended the right of his people to exercise the profession of pirate. Offended by the conduct of the diplomats, Teuta prevented them from leaving by imprisoning some and killing others. This sparked a war against the Romans, who defeated the Ardia army in 227. Teuta lost control of her kingdom and, according to legend, threw herself off the cliffs at Risan, e, Montenegro, leaving behind a curse.
(Note the anachronism in the fact that Teuta is dressed in Celine clothes.)