ca. 1480-1500 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
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.
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.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Materials and techniques | Engraving on paper |
Brief description | Israhel van Meckenem. The Garden of Love set within a frame of foliated ornament. German, ca. 1475. |
Physical description | Print with a troubadour playing a lute and a woman playing the harp, seated on either side of a fountain in a garden. Around the border is stylized leaf ornament including some bunsches of grapes, a stylized sunflower and one or two no floral elements such as a bauble towards the bottom. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Production type | Model |
Marks and inscriptions |
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Historical context | Miller, Naomi. 'Paradise Regained: Medieval Garden Fountains', in Medieval Gardens. Washington: Trustees for Harvard University, 1986, pp. 137-153. For a discussion of garden iconography. 'Although the vine itself and the denslet hatched ground accord with Meckenem's mature ornament prints, the little scene in the center is borrowed from Master E.S., while a number of the flowers in the ornamental border are reminiscent of flowers by the Master of the Berlin Passion. Geisberg dated this print about 1476 and claimed that it was one of the latest Meckenem copies after E.S.' Shestack, Alan. Fifteenth century engravings of northern Europe from the National Gallery of Art. Washington, 1968, no. 246. |
Production | 2nd state with ground to the ornament, dating from Shestack (see references), object mounted so watermark unseen |
Subjects depicted | |
Summary | 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. |
Bibliographic references |
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Other number | 208 - Le Peintre-Graveur |
Collection | |
Accession number | 14000 |
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Record created | December 1, 2005 |
Record URL |
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