Betrothal Casket

c. 1480-1495
This wood marriage casket, called a cassone, occupied a central place in the bedroom of a married woman, set on display among all her betrothal gifts.
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Connection to Website Themes

Spousal Power Dyanmics: Payment for an expensive marriage casket like this one would demonstrate and honor the power that came with the affluence of whoever procured the casket for the bride. If it was the bride’s family, then this would help the wife remind the groom of her premarital status and if it was the groom, then it would function as a reminder of the his high status.

Community Social Norms: As one of the most popular types of gifts to a bride, the marriage casket could be used to help transport belongings from the bride’s former home to that of her husband after their wedding. Then the casket could accompany other gifts and objects associated with the courtship and marriage. Commemorative objects like this reinforce the high value accorded to marriage as a major life event in medieval societies.

Church and State: With its depiction from classical mythology, this object lacks any reference to the Christian church. A faint coat of arms on the right end indicates a connection to a politically significant family.

What is Love: The scenes on this object derive from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, specifically Ceres’s search for her daughter, Proserpina. Many cassoni like this one feature representations of fertility and the sartyrs here allude to that trend. Interestingly, these scenes lack a direct connection to love and marriage.