Birth Tray: The Triumph of Love

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Pictures of this size and shape – it has 12 sides – were known as deschi da parte (or birth trays), and were common in fifteenth-century Florence. Originally made to bring food to a woman during labour, they later became symbolic gifts to celebrate marriage or childbirth. They were, like this one, lavishly decorated, usually with non-religious images. This painting illustrates a poem by the fourteenth-century Italian poet Petrarch, which describes ‘The Triumph of Love’. Love is represented as a naked, winged young man riding a chariot, ready to strike the crowd below with his arrows, which would make them fall in love. Coats of arms decorate the reverse of the tray – those of the couple for whom it was made. The woman was a member of the del Zaccheria family.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

Birth Tray: The Triumph of Love

Date

probably about 1453-5

Medium

Egg tempera on wood

Measurements

H 61.8 x W 62.1 cm

Accession number

NG3898

Acquisition method

Presented by Henry Wagner, 1924

Work type

Painting

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The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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