Christine de Pizan Hard at Work

Christine de Pizan is the first woman in western literature known to make a living from her work. Here she is depicted hard at work writing one of her own books, in her own room, in a building presumed to be a conventional house. She holds the pen in her right hand and a scraper or eraser in her left; a box for her writing tools is open on the desk, and her dog waits patiently at her feet.