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Allegory of Carnal Love

Cristofano Robettac. 1530

The Cleveland Museum of Art

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States

This enigmatic group of figures is most likely
an allegory (a representation of an abstract
idea) centered on human love. The winged
Cupid lashes a man’s arm to a tree, while a
long sash binds together two couples who
hungrily touch one another. A figure of
ambiguous sex at left holds the end of the
sash. The print may be related to Neoplatonic
love treatises in Florence. One such treatise
argued that the sense of touch operates
between sensual and spiritual realms, an idea

embodied by Hermaphroditus, an intersex
figure described in Greek myth. A direct
connection remains elusive.

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Download this artwork (provided by The Cleveland Museum of Art).
Learn more about this artwork.
  • Title: Allegory of Carnal Love
  • Creator: Cristofano Robetta (Italian, 1462–1534)
  • Date Created: c. 1530
  • Physical Dimensions: Image: 29.7 x 27.8 cm (11 11/16 x 10 15/16 in.); Sheet: 29.7 x 27.8 cm (11 11/16 x 10 15/16 in.)
  • Provenance: (Frederick Keppel & Co., Inc., New York, NY), sold to The Print Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, The Print Club of Cleveland, Cleveland, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Type: Print
  • Rights: CC0
  • External Link: https://clevelandart.org/art/1923.744
  • Medium: engraving
  • Fun Fact: Robetta worked in a manner of engraving known as the fine manner, characterized by its extremely fine lines combined with crosshatching and dots.
  • Department: Prints
  • Culture: Italy, 20th century
  • Credit Line: Gift of The Print Club of Cleveland
  • Collection: PR - Engraving
  • Accession Number: 1923.744
The Cleveland Museum of Art

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