Box with Courtly Lovers
Coquettish young lovers turn to each other on the sides and the lid of this charming box, engaging in conversation, playing board games, hunting with falcons, and occasionally caressing one another. The artfully drawn architectural frames and fashionable clothes evoke life at court, where artists, poets, musicians, and more entertained elite members of society with tales of romance. The box may have been given as a token of love or used to store tender keepsakes, and its richly colored surfaces and lively vignettes resonate with the many descriptions of such caskets that appear in the courtly literature of its time.
Artwork Details
- Title: Box with Courtly Lovers
- Date: ca. 1350
- Culture: French
- Medium: Incised, tooled, painted, stamped, and gilded leather (cuir bouilli) with brass fittings over a wood core
- Dimensions: 5 1/8 × 12 3/16 × 8 11/16 in. (13 × 31 × 22 cm)
- Classification: Leather
- Credit Line: Purchase, Michael O'Neill Gift, and The Cloisters Collection, 2025
- Object Number: 2025.788
- Curatorial Department: Medieval Art and The Cloisters
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
12th century
12th century
ca. 1340–50
ca. 1200–1210
ca. 1200–1210
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please contact us using the form below. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.