The game of courting and the art of the commune of San Gimignano, 1290-1320

The erotic frescoes adorning a chamber in San Gimignano's communal bell tower are among the most fascinating surviving examples of secular art from the late Middle Ages. Despite their fame, neither these frescoes - which include scenes of two lovers in a bathtub and Aristotle ridden by his seductress - nor those of the commune council hall have been well understood as products of the communal culture they represent.

Here Jean Campbell explores the sources and significance of the images on these walls by constructing an interdisciplinary microhistory of an early Italian commune. Her investigation addresses notions of nobility, personal display, and public space, describing how the game of courting colored urban life in the age of Dante.