The Struggle between Fortune and Poverty; Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1413-1415. Creators: Boucicaut Master, Workshop of the Boucicaut Master.
3-041-196 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images
The Struggle between Fortune and Poverty; Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1413-1415. Additional Info: On the left, the personification of Fortune, an elegantly dressed woman with wings, wrestles with the personification of Poverty, a woman raggedly dressed and barefoot. According to the text, Poverty wins this struggle and her victory has a moral message: the renunciation of worldly goods is a virtue that renders fate powerless. Those who voluntarily forsake fame, wealth, and power cannot be affected by a reversal of fortune. After her triumph over Fortune, Poverty orders that Misfortune, shown partly clothed in the background, be bound to a column. Boccaccio himself appears on the right, dressed as a scholar in a red gown with a hood, echoing the text's mention that he had first heard this story from a professor of astronomy when he was a young student in Naples.
Image Details
People Information
Creator
- Boucicaut Master, attributed to: {French}: Artist, illuminator, painter
- Workshop of the Boucicaut Master, attributed to: {French}: Artist, artists, illuminator, illuminators
Subject
- Boccaccio: Italian: Author, poet, scholar, writer, humanist
People Related
- Boccaccio: Italian: Author, poet, scholar, writer, humanist
- Laurent de Premierfait: French: Secretary to the Duke of Berry, translator
Category Hierarchy
Society & Culture Art & Literature
Society & Culture Wealth & Poverty
Artistic Representations Illuminated Manuscripts
Digital Image Size
Pixel Dimensions (W x H) : 3270x4960
File Size : 47,518kb
Aliases
- 96.MR.17.63
- Ms. 63 (96.MR.17), fol. 63
- 1200004880
- 3-041-196
- 3041196
- 96.MR.17.63