Albrecht Dürer: Roswitha of Gandersheim offers emperor Otto her new book (1501)

(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

An engraving by the German artist Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528). Roswitha (or Hroswitha) of Gandersheim (935 – after 973) was a German secular Benedictine canoness, dramatist and poetess. She is especially known for several she has written: legends of saints, comedies, and plays. This print shows her offering her book Gesta Oddonis, a history of of the Ottonian houses from 919 to 965, to the Holy Roman emperor Otto II (A.D. 955 – 983). Standing behind Roswitha is her abbess Gerberga of the Gandersheim Abbey. Engraving from 1501.