Mid- 17th century

Casket

This casket was probably made as a dowry chest. Around the exterior and interior, scenes typical of court painting are depicted: feasting, dancing, hunting, and romance. Some of the couples are intended as generic representations of lovers. Others can be identified as particular lovers from literature: for example, the Persian tale of Layla and the emaciated Majnun, who pines for his lost love, is depicted on the panel at right (above the camel). Literary lovers were so popular that they could be portrayed without any corresponding text and thus adapted to nontextual formats such as furniture.