Skip to main content
Advanced Search
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
The Ship of Love
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

The Ship of Love

Artist/Maker (Artist Unknown)
Dateca. 1500
Mediumtempera on wood
DimensionsSight: 25 x 29 1/2 in. (63.5 x 74.9 cm)
Framed: 34 x 38 3/4 x 4 in. (86.4 x 98.4 x 10.2 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineGift of The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Terms
    Object number61.032.000
    DescriptionThe imagery of this painting is unparalleled among surviving secular works of the Italian Renaissance, however, a number of features suggest that it is an allegory about love and marriage. Cupid, the god of love, stands on the bow of the ship, guiding it under the protection of Fortune, represented by a statuette atop the canopy of the throne. Inscribed on the canopy is the Latin phrase: “Poems are praised, but costly gifts are sought; so he [the lover] be wealthy, even a barbarian pleases. Now truly is the age of gold: by gold comes many an honor, by gold is affection gained” (Ovid’s Ars Amatoria, 2.277-78). The sleeping maiden dreams of love, whereas her older companion understands the realities of marriage in the Renaissance Italy: she holds a covered chalice symbolizing constancy and faithfulness, and leans upon the arm of the throne decorated with a relief sculpture of a putto bridling a hybrid monster representing the restraint of lust. The origins of the Ship of Love are unknown, but it probably was part of the lavish furnishings of a bedchamber, antechamber, or study of a patrician’s palace.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collections
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Ghismonda with the Heart of Guiscardo
    Bacchiacca
    1520s
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    The Annunciation
    Bicci di Lorenzo
    ca. 1435-1440
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Dish
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 1830
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Arm Band with Protective Amulets
    Hausa people
    collected between 1960-1973
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Bang
    Robert Indiana
    1960
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Waterloo Bridge
    Claude Monet
    1903
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Moonwalk
    Andy Warhol
    1987
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Blouse (Huipil)
    Artist Unknown
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Slave Girl
    Antonio Argenti
    ca. 1895
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Tomb of Sety I
    Artist Unknown
    late 19th to early 20th century (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    The Annunciation and the Journey to Bethlehem
    Guidoccio Cozzarelli
    ca. 1480-1490
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Madonna and Child with Two Angels
    Francesco di Giorgio Martini
    ca. 1470
    eMuseum
    Copyright © eMuseum