Poetry (from the Tarocchi, series C: Liberal Arts, #27)

1467

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Renaissance Renaissance Allegory Ferrara

Dominant colour

Poetry (from the Tarocchi, series C: Liberal Arts, #27) is a 1467 by Master of the E-Series Tarocchi, a Renaissance work, depicting Ferrara, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Master of the E-Series Tarocchi
When & what style?: 1467 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

This painting shows a woman surrounded by symbols of learning. She holds a book and a laurel wreath. The woman represents Poetry, one of the liberal arts. The liberal arts were important in the 15th century. They included subjects like music and astronomy. Poetry was added to the traditional list of liberal arts. This addition shows how poetry was valued. You can learn more about this style by looking at the work of the Master of the E-Series Tarocchi.

The story of this work

Overview

This engraving is part of the group “C” named Liberal Arts . Conceptually, the liberal arts descended from classical antiquity, and were divided into the Trivium (Grammar, Rhetoric, and Dialectic or Logic) and the Quadrivium (Music, Geometry, Arithmetic, and Astronomy). In the Tarocchi set the total number was risen to ten, with the addition of the three disciplines (Poetry, Philosophy, and Theology). The liberal arts denoted knowledge or skills considered necessary to participate in a free society. By the late Middle Ages, they began to be represented in the visual arts as womanlike…

Read the full account in the museum source.