Allegory of Carnal Love (c. 1530): Art, History and Details

Allegory of Carnal Love (c. 1530) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Cristofano Robetta (Italian, 1462–1534).

The work and its context

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

This enigmatic group of figures is most likely an allegory (a representation of an abstract idea) centered on human love. The winged Cupid lashes a man’s arm to a tree, while a long sash binds together two couples who hungrily touch one another. A figure of ambiguous sex at left holds the end of the sash. The print may be related to Neoplatonic love treatises in Florence. One such treatise argued that the sense of touch operates between sensual and spiritual realms, an idea embodied by Hermaphroditus, an intersex figure described in Greek myth. A direct connection remains elusive.

Object facts

• Title: Allegory of Carnal Love
• Date: c. 1530
• Creator attribution: Cristofano Robetta (Italian, 1462–1534)
• Culture: Italy, 20th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 29.7 x 27.8 cm (11 11/16 x 10 15/16 in.); Sheet: 29.7 x 27.8 cm (11 11/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 1923.744

A detail from the museum

Robetta worked in a manner of engraving known as the fine manner, characterized by its extremely fine lines combined with crosshatching and dots.

Collection credit

Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland

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.