Box Panel with Lovers Exchanging Gifts

Description Four couples in lavish court costume are placed beneath ogee arches supported by colonnettes. From left to right, the couples exchange a ring, a pet squirrel, a flower, and a bunch of hearts. The background is lightly crosshatched. On the rear of the panel the date "1417" is written in Arabic numerals. A poem is written in a 16th-century hand in two lines, divided in the center by a configuration which may be the capital letter I or H. The poem reads: Dear lady I love you loyally And pray God that you not forget me And I place myself at your command Without evil intent and without folly. The date and inscription are 16th-century additions. There is a large series of holes for the original mounts, some of which have been filled with plaster. A break and chip occur on the right end.

Exhibitions

• Medieval Games of Love and War. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1995-1996.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Inscriptions [Date] On the rear of the panel: 1417; [Poem] Dos Dame je vos aime leaulem[en]t/Port Die [prie] que ne mobilie mis/Et fie mon cors a vos comandens (?)/Sans moveste et sans nulle folie.; [Translation] Dear lady I love you loyally/And pray God that you not forget me/And I place myself at your command/Without evil intent and without folly.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, 1925