Peter Paul Rubens; The Death of Dido; 1600-1603; pen and brown ink on paper; 3 3/4 in. x 4 1/2 in. (9.53 cm. x 11.5 cm.); According to Virgil's 'Aeneid;' Dido; Queen of Carthage; is distraught when her lover Aeneas departs. To the shock of all; she mounts a pyre assembled from Aeneas's belongings and falls on a sword. In this sketch and a related sheet at the Louvre; Rubens develops varying poses of the figure with outstretched arms; flowing drapery; and pained expression. This sheet is a rare 'first idea' sketch Rubens drew early in his Italian years; when he was in the service of the Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga of Mantua. At the time; these initial explorations--'crabbelingen'; or scribbles; in Flemish--were still considered too rough to share and save; and would often be abandoned after the artist had polished his initial spark of an idea into a more carefully rendered design. A small number of paintings related to the 'Aeneid' survive; suggesting that Rubens may have worked on an entire Aeneas cycle.