“The Crusades” from the Love Through the Ages mural at the Tavern Club of Chicago (fragment)

Edgar Miller
1934
Oil on board
L 1.2, W 2.0 m

Part of Miller's Love Through the Ages mural for the Tavern Club, this large panel stayed in the club’s collection for many decades until it closed in the mid-2000s. It is rumored that the largest panels stayed at the club because they were too large to transport out of the venue, but it is more likely that this piece, along with "The Rape of Peace" and "Henry VIII" were simply among the club members’ favorites.

The scene depicts the rather bawdy subject matter of a European Crusader in mid-dress affixing a chastity belt to his wife, ostensibly before heading off to the religious wars of the era. The crusader's wife smiles in a wry manner as if winking at the viewer that no chastity belt will be staying affixed to her body for too long after her husband's departure.

Both main subjects are without coverings below their waists, and the viewer is left to imagine what carnal lust transpired before the scene on view. Rather than innocently glorifying the beauty of the nude form, even in the conservative Chicago culture of the time as an acceptable use of nudity in art, Miller’s depiction might have been deemed pornographic had he dared to show it in public. But as it was, in the private cloisters of the Tavern Club, with members who fancied themselves forward-thinking progressives who, like the Europeans, did not blush at talk of sex, the image was a sign of their hipness and disregard for traditional American morays.

On the other hand, it’s not clear that the message about misogyny that Miller was highlighting in this piece registered with most who came to see it. The first critic’s review of the mural by Eleanor Jewett was somewhat confused by the subject matter, writing, “The fly in the ointment is the misleading title [Love Through the Ages], which distinctly lets you down” and laments that "there are no cupids” but acknowledges that at least there are plenty of “frolicking horses” and that the “colors used throughout are quiet and charming.” Decades later, it’s still lovely to watch viewers come to appreciate the masterful albeit satirical work of art.