Monogrammist b. g.
German, active c. 1470–90
The Music Making Couple
INV-1552
Monogrammist b. g.
German, active c. 1470–901470/80
The Music Making Couple
Monogrammist b. g. German, active c. 1470–90 →engravingprint
Date
1470/80
Medium
Engraving on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: H.: 8.9 cm (3 9/16 in.); Sheet: 9.5 × 9.2 cm (3 3/4 × 3 5/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Amanda S. Johnson and Marion J. Livingston Endowment
Enjoying an intimate garden tête-à-tête, this well-dressed couple is wealthy enough to afford the leisure time to make beautiful music together. The walled garden enclave suggests that they have stolen away from a busy castle for a little privacy. The closed garden, or hortus conclusus, was often seen as an emblem of purity, especially in images of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ. Yet this woman’s studied attempt to avoid the man’s appraising glance suggests that they both have other things on their mind than playing instruments.
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