The Lover Surrounded by Dancers; The God of Love Aiming at the Lover, fol. 10 (detail), about 1405

 Ilyana Benina, Nikola Benin

Roman de la Rose - Paris, France

Tempera colors, gold leaf, and ink

Leaf: 36.7 × 26 cm (14 7/16 × 10 1/4 in.)

Getty Museum. Ms. Ludwig XV 7 (83.MR.177)

After the lover describes all the allegorical figures participating in the dance, the revelers begin to wander around the garden in pairs. In the image on the left, the lover is still surrounded by the dancers. The two figures in the foreground, a man in tights and a woman wearing a highnecked dress, hold a cloth between them in their hands, completing the circle around the lover. The image on the right echoes the circular format with a low wall that surrounds the lover and the God of Love. The lover warily looks over his shoulder at the God, who takes aim at him with a bow and arrow. The text below the miniature reads: Li dieux d'amours tantost de loing, me prist a sivr l'arc ou poing, or me gart dieux de mortel plaie, se il fait tant qu'il a moy traie. (The God of Love immediately from afar began to follow me, bow in hand. Now God protect me from a mortal wound if he goes so far as to shoot me.) Soon after the arrow pierces the lover, he sees the rose for the first time and falls deeply in love.