Hexagonal Casket with Stories from Boccaccio's L'Ameto (Primary Title)
Hexagonal Box (Alternate Title)
Embriachi Workshop, Italian, Northern Italy, active late 14th - early 15th century (Maker)
Allegorical figures decorate this box, which probably was a container for a woman’s toiletries. On the sides of the box, two episodes from a 14th-century allegorical tale about the hunter Ameto and a group of nymphs (the Virtues in disguise) are repeated several times. On four sides, the nymphs instruct Ameto in the ways of love, while on the remaining two, Ameto judges a musical contest between two shepherds (who represent the life of leisure and the life of industry). Much to the approval of the Virtues, Ameto judges the life of industry superior to the life of leisure.
Gift of Mr. John D. Archbold
Image released via Creative Commons CC-BY-NC
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