The Poet Virgil Suspended in a Basket

Lucas van Leyden

National Gallery of Art

This print depicts a group of people gathered outside a building, looking upward. At the top of the print, a man appears to sit in a basket that hangs from the side of the building. This man wears a round cap or turban and robes with wide sleeves and a puffed neckline. The people in the crowd below look up towards the basket, some pointing towards it. The crowd includes men and women in long robes, tunics, or dresses. Many of them wear different kinds of caps, and some have swords attached to their sides. On the left, there is also a child in the crowd, looking towards a woman next to him. In the center, a small dog is sniffing the rocky ground. The surroundings include more buildings on the right, including a church steeple, visible against a sky with birds in flight.