Tender Embrace

Description The trials and games of love can be disheartening, but nothing is more rewarding than finally winning someone's affection. Here, two lovers have dispensed with the games and tenderly embrace. As they hold each other tightly, flowers and golden leaves seem to spring from their very bodies, celebrating the blossoming of love within them. Although it may seem inappropriate to pair lovers with an image of Christ's death, they may be intended to remind us of the eternal joy resulting from that event.

Exhibitions

• The Gothic Revival: The Illuminated Manuscript in Medieval and Modern Times. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1991.
• Medieval Games of Love and War. The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore. 1995-1996.
• Checkmate! Medieval People at Play. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2010.
• Henry Walters, Léon Gruel, and the Reinvention of the Medieval Manuscript . 2015-2016.

Provenance Henry Walters, Baltimore, after 1894 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, after 1894