Aeneas Erects a Tomb to his Nurse, Caieta, and Flees the Country of Circe (Aeneid, Book VII). Artist: Master of the Aeneid (active ca. 1530-40). Culture: French, Limoges. Dimensions: 7 3/4 x 8 1/2 in. (19.7 x 21.6 cm). Date: probably ca. 1530-35.European of the Renaissance period viewed ancient Rome not only as the origin of Italian civilzation but also the geographic center of a lost golden age. This plaque belongs to a series of at least eighty Limoges enamels illustrating events from Virgil's Aeneid. The Latin epic poem tells the story of the legendary hero Aeneas, who escaped the sack and burning of Troy by the Greeks and, after wandering for some time, settled in Italy, where his descendants founded Rome.The scenes are not, however, the product of the enameler's imagination; rather, they are close copies of the woodcut illustrations for the edition of the Latin poet's Opera printed by Johann Grüninger in Strasbourg in 1502. The same woodcuts were used again for the edition publi