Siege of the Castle of Love

ca. 1320-50

Love and conflict are inseparable in this masterfully carved ivory panel, which originally was the casing for a mirror owned by a wealthy woman. Horsemen enact a mock siege of the "castle of love" while smiling ladies pelt them with roses, the flower associated with love; one even welcomes a soldier who has scaled the battlement.

Ivory

4 1/2 x 4 1/4 x 1/2 in. (11.43 x 10.8 x 1.27 cm)

Donald E. Frederick Memorial Collection

49.37

Photo: Paul Macapia

Not currently on view

Resources

Published ReferencesLee, Sherman E., "Two Medieval Ivories in the Seattle Art Museum," in The Art Quarterly, Spring 1949, pp. 191-193, illus. p. 188

"Handbook, Seattle Art Museum: Selected Works from the Permanent Collections." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1951, p. 116 (b&w)

Joice, Gail, Michael Knight, and Pamela McClusky. "Ivories in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1987, no. 12, p. 16

"Selected Works." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, p. 85

"Seattle Art Museum: Bridging Cultures." London: Scala Publishers Ltd. for the Seattle Art Museum, 2007, p. 56

McClusky, Pamela. "The Art of War," A Community of Collectors, Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 2008, p. 138, illus. fig. 2.

Gothic Ivories Project (online scholarly database). Courtauld Institute of Art. http://gothicivories.courtauld.ac.uk/index.html. Posted 2013.

Davies, Penelope J. E., et al. Janson's History of Art: the Western Tradition. Boston: Pearson, 2016. Reproduced p. 422.

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