Phyllis and Aristotle Brooch

This brooch depicts the story of how the great philosopher Aristotle was humiliated by Phyllis, whom he had told his student, Alexander, to avoid. She demonstrated that even Aristotle’s mighty … intellect was subject to her charms, and told him she would sleep with him only if he first permitted her to play horsey and ride him. This bit of foreplay was witnessed by Alexander, to his teacher’s shame.

We filled in a few parts which the original brooch (dated 1400-1450) was missing – fortunately, not that one in the middle, or we would never have known how large it was.