Antique print titled 'The tarantula, with the method of curing those stung by it, which is effected by music and dancing'. Antique print of the wolf spider or tarantula at top, while the scene below depicts two women dancing to the music of two male fiddlers, observed by a seated woman. The rustic setting includes a cottage with clothes drying on a line, and sheep grazing in a pasture. This print illustrates the belief that the dire effects of the bite of the tarantula, called tarantism, could be counteracted by frenzied dancing. The Italian dance called the tarantella became identified with such curative dancing, a link that has been ascribed to the similarity of the words.
Engraved for Middleton's 'Complete System of Geography', published circa 1780.
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