Mirror Case or Box Cover with an Attack on the Castle of Love in the Cloisters, June 2011

Mirror Case or Box Cover with the Attack on the Castle of Love
Elephant Ivory
French (Paris), ca. 1320-1340

Accession # 2003.131.1

At the top center the crowned and winged figure of the God of Love leans down as he prepares to launch an arrow from his bow toward the lower left. The castle is defended by a force of women armed with roses that they hurl at the attacking knights. The Attack on the Castle of Love became a popular image in the fourteenth century and the theme is represented here with particular delicacy.

Text from the Cloisters label.