- About the original Object
Circa 1400-1410 - Bequest by Ch. Davillier, 1883. Paris, Louvre Museum, Department of Objets d'art, OA 3131 - Tapestry, wool and silk. Height 2.47 ; width: 2,09 m
The tapestry of The Offering of the Heart reflects the enduring taste of the aristocracy for the codes of courtly love. Through its elegantly dressed couple, it illustrates the very foundation of "fin' amor", or refined love, that is to say, the total submission of the lover to his lady, portrayed by the offering of his heart, the symbol of total self-abnegation.
This theme has a dominant place in the Romance of the Rose, the most famous work of medieval literature, in which Love tells the young hero how he should behave to become a perfect lover.
When you have given your heart away (...) / things will happen to you.
The offering of the heart was a theme very frequently depicted on small precious objects, such as caskets, valve mirrors, writing tablets or knife handles.
