Love, Seduction and Courtship in the Renaissance

Interesting online lecture from the National Gallery on love and marriage in the Renaissance to mark Valentine’s Day.

Sian Walters showed us what we can learn about courtship and marriage from Renaissance paintings. She started by looking at seduction via mythological works by Andrea Schiavone and Titian. She was clear to point out that what was presented as seduction at the time might be described as sexual assault or rape today.

She then looked at allegories of love taking representations as an example of Venus and Mars and how they are based on an ancient painting of Alexander and Roxanna.

She also talked about objects linked to marriage and childbirth in particular cassone or wedding chests and birth trays. She discussed how the images often held a symbolic or moral message particular directed at the women. She discussed the gallery’s story of Griselda cassone in detail taking us through the story and focusing on the wedding scenes.

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