Birth, Love and Marriage in the Renaissance

Fascinating online lecture from the National Gallery using a 15th century birth tray from their collection to discuss birth, love and marriage in the period. 

Kate Devine and Marc Woodhead explained what a birth tray or Desco da Parto was ie a decorative tray used to carry food for a woman giving birth or lying in which were also used as decoration for the home. There often had pictures of mythical scenes to do with love, birth or marriage on one side and of babies or coats of arms on the reverse. 

They then looked in detail at an example from the National Gallery’s collection by the workshop of Apollinio de Giovanni and Marco del Buono called The Triumph of Love from 1455-6. They explained how it was based on a poem by Petrarch and looked at how it both mirrored the story and differed from it. 

In particular they discussed the two figures of black African riders which are caricatures which may represent universality or just reflect the make up of a court at the time. They also looked at two strange images at the bottom of women who make men look ridiculous or weak. Is that a comic role reversal for the women who would see the piece?

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