A Bridal Couple (c. 1470): Art, History and Details

A Bridal Couple (c. 1470) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This painting depicting a recently married aristocratic couple is filled with symbolism. The various floral elements represent love and fertility, while the colors of their clothes suggest not only their relationship but also chastity, love, and modesty. What details might you choose to symbolize a young couple in love?

Object facts

• Title: A Bridal Couple
• Date: c. 1470
• Culture: Southern Germany, 15th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: oil on panel
• Dimensions: Framed: 77.5 x 51 x 8.1 cm (30 1/2 x 20 1/16 x 3 3/16 in.); Unframed: 62.3 x 36.5 cm (24 1/2 x 14 3/8 in.)
• Collection: MED - Medieval Art
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1932.179

A detail from the museum

This painting inspired internationally renowned Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho to write a piece of music titled "Orion" after she visited the museum.

Collection credit

Delia E. Holden and L. E. Holden Funds

Further reading listed by the museum

• Burger, Fritz, Hermann Schmitz, and Ignaz Beth. Die deutsche Malerei vom ausgehenden Mittelalter bis zum Fnde der Renaissance. Berlin-Neubabelsberg: Akademische Verlagsgesellschaft Athenaion m.b.h, 1913.
• Art Digest (November. 1, 1932).
• "Two New Paintings—Cleveland." The American Magazine of Art 25, no. 6 (1932).

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.