MYTHS OF LOCAL HEROES AND HEROINES^619Pyramus and Thisbe, by Hans Wechtlin (ca. 1480-ca. 1526). Chiaroscuro woodcut, ca. 1515;
IOV2 x 7 in. Ovid's tale is set in a German Renaissance landscape. Thisbe comes upon
Pyramus dying beneath the mulberry tree. The Latin inscription means: "Pyramus,
Thisbe's lover, shows by his death what power raging Love, clinging to his bones, has
in his veins." The blindfolded Cupid on the fountain further alludes to Pyramus' love,
which so blinded him to rational thought that he rashly took his own life. (German. © The
Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 50.396.)