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Monogrammist b. g.

The Music Making Couple

1470/80
Round engraving on ivory laid paper
9.5 × 9.2 cm (3.7 × 3.6 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

Enjoying an intimate garden tête-à-tête, this well-dressed couple is wealthy enough to afford the leisure time to make beautiful music together. The walled garden enclave suggests that they have stolen away from a busy castle for a little privacy. The closed garden, or hortus conclusus , was often seen as an emblem of purity, especially in images of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ. Yet this woman’s studied attempt to avoid the man’s appraising glance suggests that they both have other things on their mind than playing instruments.

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