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The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos

Jan Muller Netherlandish
After Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem Netherlandish
Publisher Harmen Jansz. Muller Netherlandish
ca. 1589
Not on view
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Three Fates: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos
  • Artist: Jan Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam 1571–1628 Amsterdam)
  • Artist: After Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem (Netherlandish, Haarlem 1562–1638 Haarlem)
  • Publisher: Harmen Jansz. Muller (Netherlandish, Amsterdam ca. 1540–1617 Amsterdam)
  • Date: ca. 1589
  • Medium: Engraving; third state of four
  • Dimensions: 30.0 x 25.0 cm
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1956
  • Object Number: 56.597.7
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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The Dentist (reverse copy), Jan Muller Netherlandish
The Dentist (reverse copy)
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Rest on the Flight into Egypt, Jan Muller Netherlandish, Engraving; second state of four
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
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Lot and His Daughters, Jan Muller Netherlandish, Engraving; New Holl.'s second state of four
Lot and His Daughters
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
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Hagar in the Desert Consoled by an Angel, Jan Muller Netherlandish, Engraving; first state of three
Hagar in the Desert Consoled by an Angel
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
1591
Hagar in the Desert Consoled by an Angel, Jan Muller Netherlandish, Engraving; third state of three
Hagar in the Desert Consoled by an Angel
Jan Muller
Harmen Jansz. Muller
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