1490
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
Ornament with Dance of the Lovers is a 1490 by Israhel van Meckenem, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see two men dancing around a woman on a small metal plaque. Thorny vines twist between them, making every step risky. Musicians play in the background. This was a fancy party trick—rich people in 1490s Germany wore these plaques like jewelry. The thorns aren’t just decoration; they show how love could feel like a game with sharp rules. The dance looks like a Morris dance, a style troubadours sang about in courts. To see more of these tiny, detailed scenes, look up Israhel van Meckenem (German, c. 1440–1503).
In this image, the competitive nature of love and sexual desire plays out on treacherously thorned vines that block the young suitors from their ultimate prize, the elegant lady in the center. Given the presence of two musicians, the male suitors may be performing a type of folk dance, known as a Morris dance, which was popular in courtly circles at the time, and which relates, as well, to courtly love poetry performed by troubadours (lyrical poets of the Middle Ages).
Ornament prints such as this were often used by other artists and craftsmen as source material for motifs on decorative arts or furniture.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Israhel van Meckenem (c. 1445 – 10 November 1503), also known as Israhel van Meckenem the Younger, was a German printmaker and goldsmith, perhaps of a Dutch family origin. He was the most prolific engraver of the…
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