- Period
- Gothic
- Date
- ca. 1310–30
- Collection
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Object no.
- 464125
Box with Romance Scenes
Unknown Parisian ivory carver, ca. 1310–30
The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917; The Cloisters Collection, 1988 · Public domain
- Maker
- Unknown Parisian ivory carver
- Date
- ca. 1310–30
- Medium
- Elephant ivory
- Dimensions
- 10.9 × 25.3 × 15.9 cm
- Period
- Gothic
The record
Why it matters
An ivory casket carved with episodes from Arthurian and other courtly literature: the lid shows the assault on the Castle of Love, with knights catapulting roses, while the sides include Tristan and Isolde spied on by King Mark, Lancelot crossing the sword bridge and Gawain on the perilous bed. The front panel, showing Aristotle and Phyllis and the deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe, was separated before 1800 and rejoined the box in 1988. Such boxes were made in Paris as gifts between lovers or families.