Gherardo di Giovanni del Fora, 'The Combat of Love and Chastity', probably 1475-1500
About the work
Overview
This balletic battle scene shows Chastity, the graceful woman in a billowing dress, defending herself against the golden arrows of Love, the athletic naked youth. The combat takes place on a summer day, and the only sign of commotion in nature is a swan, wings outstretched, in pursuit of its companion.
The battle of Love and Chastity was hugely important in Renaissance society, representing the suppression of illicit passion in favour of chaste and faithful devotion in marriage, particularly on the part of women. The theme came from a famous poem by the fourteenth-century Italian poet, Petrarch. Our panel was part of a larger series of paintings probably made to decorate the rooms of a newly wed couple.
Gherardo worked more often as a miniaturist and this is reflected in his attention to the smallest details. Chastity’s shield is beautifully embellished with gold and jewels, and a variety of wild flowers – like the white clover – bloom in the grass.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Combat of Love and Chastity
- Artist dates
- 1444/5 - 1497
- Date made
- probably 1475-1500
- Medium and support
- egg tempera on wood
- Dimensions
- 42.5 × 34.9 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1885
- Inventory number
- NG1196
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 15th-century Spanish Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Martin Davies, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools’, London 1986; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
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2008Art and Love in Renaissance ItalyThe Metropolitan Museum of Art18 November 2008 - 16 February 2009Kimbell Art Museum15 March 2009 - 14 June 2009
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2010Ghirlandaio and Renaissance FlorenceMuseo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza23 June 2010 - 10 October 2010
Bibliography
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1918R. Fry, 'A Cassone-Panel by Cosimo Roselli (?)', The Burlington Magazine, XXXII/182, 1918, pp. 200-1
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1923C. Holmes, '"Giorgione" Problems at Trafalgar Square, I', The Burlington Magazine, XLII/241, 1923, pp. 169-81
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1951Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, London 1951
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1961M. Davies, The Earlier Italian Schools, 2nd edn, London 1961
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1963G. Carandente, I trionfi nel primo Rinascimento, Turin 1963
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1967E. Fahy, 'Some Early Italian Pictures in the Gambier-Parry Collection', The Burlington Magazine, CIX/768, 1967, pp. 128-39
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1976E. Fahy, Some Followers of Domenico Ghirlandajo, New York 1976
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1986Davies, Martin, National Gallery Catalogues: The Earlier Italian Schools, revised edn, London 1986
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1991F. Zeri, Giorno per giorno nella pittura: Scritti sull'arte dell'Italia settentrionale dal trecento al primo cinquecento, Turin 1991
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1992M. Gregori, Maestri e botteghe: Pittura a Firenze alla fine del Quattrocento (exh. cat. Palazzo Strozzi, 16 October 1992 - 10 January 1993), Florence 1992
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1999D. Pócs, 'Holy Spirit in the Library: The Frontispiece of the Didymus Corvina and Neoplatonic Theology at Court of King Matthias Corvinus', Acta historiae artium, XLI/43191, 1999, pp. 63-212
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1999C. Baskins, 'Il Trionfo della Pudizia: Menacing Virgins in Italian Renaissance Domestic Painting', in K.C. Kelly and M. Leslie (eds), Menacing Virgins: Representing Virginity in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, Newark 1999, pp. 117-31
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2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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2001M. Scalini, Pulchritudo, amor, voluptas: Pico della Mirandola alla corte del Magnifico (exh. cat. Centro culturale polivalente, 15 December 2001 - 17 February 2002), Mirandola 2001
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2002A.W.B. Randolph, Engaging Symbols: Gender, Politics, and Public Art in Fifteenth-Century Florence, New Haven 2002
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2005A. Wright, The Pollaiuolo Brothers: The Arts of Florence and Rome, New Haven 2005
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2007L. Melli, 'Gherardo di Giovanni polidrico artista alle prese col David del Verrocchio', in N. Baldini (ed.), Invisibile agli occhi: Atti della Giornata di studio in ricordo di Lisa Venturini, Firenze, Fondazione Roberto Longhi, 15 dicembre 2005, Florence 2007, pp. 37-43
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.