Covetousness Magnet

Hoard your wealth or share the bounty? An age old question. Contemplate it yourself when viewing this magnet daily. Colorfully reproduced, this magnet features a detail from one of the most influential books in medieval France.

This book, written in medieval French, is an allegorical poem. Begun by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230, Le roman de la rose relates the narrator’s dream, a quest for a beautiful rose—that is, for his beloved—imprisoned in a walled garden. Outside the garden are anti-courtly vices, including the three personified here: Covetousness and Avarice on the left, and Envy on the right. Envy’s hands are empty, but Covetousness grabs moneybags from a pair of strongboxes containing coins and golden vessels. Avarice, an older woman in a patched robe, also grasps a money bag. Both she and Covetousness sit beneath rods draped with expensive garments, which Envy lacks.

This magnet was made from the Morgan's collections to complement the exhibition Medieval Money, Merchants and Morality on view at the Morgan Library & Museum November 10, 2023 through March 10, 2024.