Key moments in the lives of Italian men and women in the Renaissance were marked by celebrations of the highest possible degree of magnificence, and none more lavishly than betrothal, marriage, or the birth of a child. Art and Love in Renaissance Italy offers a unique look at approximately 150 paintings and art objects, dating from around 1400 to 1550, that were created to celebrate love and marriage. It includes marriage portraits and paintings that extol sensual love and fertility, exquisite examples of jewelry and maiolica (tin-glazed ceramic) given as gifts to couples, and some of the rarest and most significant pieces of Renaissance glassware, cassone panels, birth trays, and drawings and prints of amorous subjects.

The exhibition will be divided into three sections: Celebrating Betrothal, Marriage, and Childbirth; From Cassone to Poesia: Paintings of Love and Marriage; and Profane Love. The drawings, prints, and objects in this exhibition were created by some of the most celebrated artists of the time, including Parmigianino, Giulio Romano, Fra Filippo Lippi, Lorenzo Lotto, Giorgione, Palma il Vecchio, and Tintoretto.

Art and Love in Renaissance Italy