Game Board for Chess and Backgammon with Twenty Playing Pieces
1st half 14th c., with later alterations
In the Middle Ages the game of chess was considered one of the knightly arts. Thus this board’s numerous figures are based on motifs of the knightly-courtly world and refer to hunting, music, courtly love (Minne) and the fight against monsters. Very few such game boards from medieval times have been preserved. This one was first documented in the Ambras collection of Archduke Ferdinand II in 1596.
In the Middle Ages the game of chess was considered one of the knightly arts. Thus this board’s numerous figures are based on motifs of the knightly-courtly world and refer to hunting, music, courtly love (Minne) and the fight against monsters. Very few such game boards from medieval times have been preserved. This one was first documented in the Ambras collection of Archduke Ferdinand II in 1596.
Time:
1st half 14th c., with later alterations
Object Name
Game; Game board
Culture
Venice (?)
Material/technology:
Wood with certosina inlay, jasper, bone, agate, chalcedony, painted clay reliefs and miniatures under rock crystal
Dimensions:
H. 3 cm, L. 38 cm, B. 38 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Kunstkammer
Invs.
Kunstkammer, 168