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Allegory of Carnal Love
The Art Institute of Chicago

Allegory of Carnal Love

Description

Cristofano Robetta’s Allegory of Carnal Love depicts a scene of love and death in a friezelike composition, with two pairs of lovers in a triangle-like formation with a putto at each point. Standing at the far left of the scene is an enigmatic divine figure drawing in the bodies of the lovers closest to him with his sash. Is he, like the skull underfoot, a symbol of death, reminding the viewer of what lies in store?

Dimensions

30.2 × 20.8 cm (11 15/16 × 8 1/4 in.)

Movement / Period

Renaissance

Accession No

4370

Curatorial Affinity Stream

Continuing the Universe of Cristofano Robetta Italian, 1462-c.1535

Renaissance • Italy • Harmonious Works & Contemporaries