While some ancient authorities believe this to be a portrait of Dido as described by Virgil; modern opinion holds that this is Melpomene; the Muse of Tragedy; wearing Carthaginian costume; holding a sword in a strange sheath with a mushroom-shaped tip. Copperplate engraved by Tommaso Piroli from his own 鈥楢ntichita di Ercolano' (Antiquities of Herculaneum); Rome; 1789. Italian artist and engraver Piroli (1752-1824) published six volumes between 1789 and 1807 documenting the murals and bronzes found in Heraculaneum and Pompeii.