The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem|Jan Muller|Harmen Jansz. Muller

ca. 1589 · Engraving; third state of four · Drawings and Prints

Muller made six engravings after Cornelis; and, impressions of four are in the Met. In addition to the present work they include Cain Killing Abel (56.597.4), Arion on a Dolphin (56.597.5) and The Fight Between Ulysses and Irus (56.597.6). According to Greek and Roman mythology, the Three Fates were goddesses who determined the course of human lives and were traditionally portrayed as women spinning wool. Muller shows them seated together in a rocky landscape, overlooking a barren plain with a few buildings in the far distance. In the center is Clotho (Greek for ‘the spinner’), spinning the thread of life for all mortals; at the right is Lachesis (‘the apportioner’), measuring out the thread -- determining the length of a mortal’s life; and at the left, Atropos (‘she who cannot be turned’), cutting the thread, signaling the moment of death.

Artist

Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem|Jan Muller|Harmen Jansz. Muller

Date

ca. 1589

Medium

Engraving; third state of four

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1956