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Wikimedia Commons · CC0 1.0 · Hover to magnify, click for fullscreen
Original fileA man in contemporary 16th-century attire and a woman holding a palm branch stand before a central figure of Christ, who joins their hands to sanctify their union. The woman is crowned with a wreath of flowers, representing her purity and virtue, while Christ radiates a divine light from behind his head. A small scene in the background depicts a figure being crowned, suggesting the celestial rewards associated with a virtuous and chaste life.
This work illustrates the Neoplatonic and Christian mystical ideal of 'Spiritual Love,' where earthly marriage is elevated into a divine allegory of the soul's harmony. It reflects the influence of Marsilio Ficino’s theories on sacred love, which sought to harmonize human relationships with the pursuit of the divine.
3. Quos connectit amor verus, castumq; cubile, Auspice iunguntur Christo, remanentq; fideles.
Translation
3. Those whom true love and a chaste bed connect, Are joined with Christ as guide, and remain faithful.
Marsilio Ficino
The concept of 'spiritual love' (amor spiritualis) depicted here is a direct reflection of Ficino's Neoplatonic theories on the hierarchy of love and the sanctification of earthly unions.
Hendrick Goltzius
Jan Saenredam was a primary engraver for Goltzius, whose designs frequently embedded complex esoteric and moral allegories.
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
plaatrand: hoogte 233 mm x breedte 161 mm
allegory
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 1, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.