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The Unequal Lovers

Makercircle of Lucas Cranach the Younger (b. 1515, Wittenberg, Germany – d. 1586, Weimar, Germany)

Date16th century

MediumOil on panel

Dimensions14 1/8 in. x 10 1/4 in. (35.9 cm x 26 cm)

Credit LineMuseum purchase, The Class of 1947 Acquisition Fund

Object number2018.24

Status

On view

ProvenancePurchased 10/13/2017 at Christie's, sale 14277 Old Masters; lot no. 187.

RightsCopyright is retained in accordance with U.S. Copyright laws

Photo creditDavis Museum at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

More Information

Object Label

A popular satirical theme in Northern Europe, the ill-matched couple developed originally in literature and emerged in the visual arts in the fifteenth century. The majority of examples feature an old man courting a young woman, but this panel flips the trope so that an older, masculine woman courts a younger, effeminate man. In most depictions of unequal lovers money is exchanged, underscoring the impropriety of the relationship and implying the match is monetarily motivated. While marriage in the sixteenth century was recognized as a tool to distribute wealth, especially from older spouses to younger partners, it was still believed that couples of a similar age were better suited and more likely to make a love match. As in the Laughing Fool below, contemporary audiences would have found this representation of unconventional characters humorous, and would have understood the implied joke that love is blind.

Object Label

This label was originally published on the Davis website as a New Acquisition post. The Davis Museum recently purchased a 16th-century painting depicting the motif of Unequal Lovers. A popular satirical theme in Northern Europe, the ill-matched couple developed originally in literature and emerged in the visual arts in the 15th century. The majority of examples feature an old man courting a young woman, as seen in the Ill-Matched Lovers by Quentin Massys at the National Gallery of Art, D.C., but this panel flips the trope so that an older, masculine woman courts a younger, effeminate man. In most depictions of unequal lovers money is exchanged, underscoring the impropriety of the relationship and implying the match is monetarily motivated. While marriage in the 16th century was recognized as a tool to distribute wealth, especially from older spouses to younger partners, it was still a belief that couples of a similar age were better suited and more likely a love match. Contemporary audiences would have found this representation of unconventional characters humorous—the foolish man and the dominant woman.