The shape of this print suggests that it is either a design for a plate or was intended to be stuck onto another object, such as the lid of a box. The image in the centre is taken from a print by Master E.S. who was active between 1450 and 1467. The foliage and flowers round the edge are thought to be Meckenem’s own design.

Meckenem was one of the most prolific fifteenth century printmakers and also one who widely copied from others. Only ten percent of his surviving output of around 620 designs were his own work. Copying or borrowing motifs from other designers and printmakers was a commonplace practice at this time.

The central image comes from the tradition of ‘courtly love’ emerging from medieval romances sung by poets in aristocratic courts. Later written down the manuscripts, they were often lavishly illustrated. Illustrations to romances and standard courtly love motifs featured in domestic objects such as tapestries, chests and decorative ware.

In this image a man and woman play music beside a fountain in a garden. Gardens and fountains were frequent features in the romances, appropriated from religious imagery of the Earthly Paradise and fountain of life from which the water of life flowed to the rest of the world. In religious illustrations the doves and peacocks in such gardens represent immortality.