The Lovers (c. 1490): Art, History and Details

The Lovers (c. 1490) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Wenzel von Olmütz (Bohemian); Hausbuch Master (German, active 1470–1500).

The work and its context

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

In this image, a man and woman sit facing one another; the woman casts her eyes down shyly as the man makes a tender touch, an invitation to love. This artist pared down a garden of love to an arbor with a low fence, a vase of flowers, and a basin of water holding a jug of wine and cup. The love displayed in the garden is chaste, as intended. This is apparent by the wine in the water bath, suggesting cooled desire; the carnations in the vase, symbols of virginity; and the woman’s small dog, a sign of fidelity.

Object facts

• Title: The Lovers
• Date: c. 1490
• Creator attribution: Wenzel von Olmütz (Bohemian); Hausbuch Master (German, active 1470–1500)
• Culture: Germany
• Type: Print
• Technique: engraving
• Dimensions: Image: 16.7 x 10.9 cm (6 9/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Sheet: 16.9 x 11.3 cm (6 5/8 x 4 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Engraving
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2010.262

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Mann, C. Griffith. "Acquisitions 2010." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 51, no. 2 (March/April 2011): 10-27.
• Glaubinger, Jane and Lemonedes, Heather. “Treasures on Paper: The Crème de la crème of the museum’s prints and drawings collection is now on view.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 54, no. 2 (March/April 2014): 6-9.

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.