3-041-216 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Boccaccio and Fortune; Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1413-1415. Additional Info: On the right, the allegorical figure of Fortune appears before Boccaccio, the author of the book. The artist partially followed Boccaccio's text, which describes Fortune as having wings and multiple arms. The wings attest to Fortune's flightiness and swiftness, while her many arms indicate that no one can escape her grasp. The text goes on to say, however, that she is a hideous monster, whereas the artist chose to depict her as a beautiful courtly lady. Functioning as an author portrait, the image shows Boccaccio in profile and dressed as a scholar. He sits at a circular writing desk, which turns to allow easy access to his reference books. The confrontation of the author with Fortune corresponds to a recurrent theme in Boccaccio's narratives: the power of Fortune over humankind.