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Lot Essay
This fresco is a rare survival from a 14th century decorative scheme, which is even more remarkable for its secular and overtly courtly subject matter. It is closely related to five other fragments, attributed to the circle of the Master of the Adoration of the Magi, that probably decorated the walls of an aristocratic palace in Bergamo Alta (see I pittori bergamaschi. Dal XIII al XIX secolo, Le origini, Bergamo, 1992, pp. 331-2, no. 8; four in private collections, and one untraced).
These scenes all seem to depict everyday life among the courtly elite, and are an important source for the customs, pastimes and dress of the late fourteenth-century aristocracy in northern Italy. Stylistically the present work is closest to the Conversation between a gentleman and a young lady (formerly in the Bardini collection, Florence, ibid., illustrated p. 371). Both frame the action within a trompe l'oeil gothic arch. In the present work a gentleman and a lady are playing a game of chess to a musical accompaniment in a marble-lined interior. Chess had been introduced to Western Europe from its origins in Asia, probably around the 10th or the 11th century. In twelfth-century Romance literature a knight and his lady were often described playing the game in their spare time, thereby bestowing an erotic quality to the martial and strategic aspects of the game. Here the woman raises her right hand and addresses her adversary across the chessboard, as he makes his move. In the spirit of courtly love chess acts as a metaphor for the gentleman who is trying to break down his lady's defences, while the presence of the musicians add to the sensual atmosphere of the scene.
These scenes all seem to depict everyday life among the courtly elite, and are an important source for the customs, pastimes and dress of the late fourteenth-century aristocracy in northern Italy. Stylistically the present work is closest to the Conversation between a gentleman and a young lady (formerly in the Bardini collection, Florence, ibid., illustrated p. 371). Both frame the action within a trompe l'oeil gothic arch. In the present work a gentleman and a lady are playing a game of chess to a musical accompaniment in a marble-lined interior. Chess had been introduced to Western Europe from its origins in Asia, probably around the 10th or the 11th century. In twelfth-century Romance literature a knight and his lady were often described playing the game in their spare time, thereby bestowing an erotic quality to the martial and strategic aspects of the game. Here the woman raises her right hand and addresses her adversary across the chessboard, as he makes his move. In the spirit of courtly love chess acts as a metaphor for the gentleman who is trying to break down his lady's defences, while the presence of the musicians add to the sensual atmosphere of the scene.