A Fragment from The Triumph of Chastity over Love

The fragments assembled in this setting are probably from a roundel or panel depicting a scene from the poem I Trionfi (the Triumphs) by the fourteenth-century Italian poet Petrarch. The subject of this panel is the Triumph of Chastity over Love (see also 2003.69). A bound winged cupid sits on a large chariot inscribed in black Gothic lettering, Caritas (love or charity) and Cupido (Cupid or desire). The chariot is drawn by unicorns and followed by a crowd, possibly representing virtuous women from antiquity such as Dido and Lucretia. According to legend, unicorns could be trained only by a virgin, and such a maiden may have been shown leading the procession. The bottom piece of glass in the current panel with the unicorn bodies is a modern replacement.