A 16th-century (ca. 1540) German satirical print whose general theme is the uselessness of chastity belts in ensuring the faithfulness of beautiful young wives married to old ugly husbands. The young wife is dipping into the bag of money which her old husband is offering to give her (to encourage her to remain placidly in the chastity belt he has locked on her), but she intends to use it to buy her freedom to enjoy her handsome lover (who is bringing her a key).
<p>For another closely-related 16th century woodcut (with different artwork, and the poem spelled according to a different German dialect, but basically the same idea), see <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg" title="File:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg">Image:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg</a> .
</p><p>Here's the transcript of the text in the woodcut which is provided in Eric John Dingwall's 1931 book <i>The Girdle of Chastity</i>):
</p>
<dl><dd><dl><dd>The old husband: ("a")</dd></dl></dd></dl><dl><dd>Gelt und gütz gnung wil ich dir geben</dd>
<dd>Wiltü nach meinen willen leben</dd>
<dd>Greift mitter hannd in meiner tasschen</dd>
<dd>Des sloss will ich dich auch erlassen.</dd></dl><dl><dd><dl><dd>His young wife: ("b")</dd></dl></dd></dl><dl><dd>Es hilft kain shloß für frauwen list</dd>
<dd>kain trew mag sein dar lieb nit ist</dd>
<dd>Darumb ain slüssel, der mir gefelt</dd>
<dd>Den wöl ich kauffen umb dein gelt.</dd></dl><dl><dd><dl><dd>Her lover: ("c")</dd></dl></dd></dl><dl><dd>Ich drag ein Slüssel zw solliche slossen</dd>
<dd>Wie wol es manchen hat verdrossen</dd>
<dd>Der hat der narren kappen fill</dd>
<dd>Der rechte lieb erkäuffen will.</dd></dl><p>Here's an attempted rendering of this text into modern German:
</p>
<dl><dd>Geld und Güter genug will ich dir geben</dd>
<dd>willst du nach meinem Willen leben.</dd>
<dd>Greif mit der Hand in meine Tasche,</dd>
<dd>das Schloss will ich dir erlassen.</dd></dl><dl><dd>Es hilft kein Schloss vor der Frauen List</dd>
<dd>keine Treue kann sein wo Liebe nicht ist.</dd>
<dd>Darum einen Schlüssel, der mir fehlt,</dd>
<dd>den will ich kaufen um[=für] dein Geld.</dd></dl><dl><dd>Ich trage einen Schlüssel zu diesem Schloss.</dd>
<dd>obwohl es manchen verdrossen hat.</dd>
<dd>Der hat der Narrenkappe viel,</dd>
<dd>der rechte Liebe erkaufen will.</dd></dl><p>Dingwall translates what the wife says as: "No lock is of avail against the cunning of women; there can be no fidelity where love is not present: for that reason will I buy with your money the key I lack".
</p><p>This print has been attributed to Peter Flötner and Hans Baldung, but Dingwall prefers to attribute it to H. Vogtherr (however, it is not entirely clear to me whether Dingwall is referring to this version, or to the alternative version <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg" title="File:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg">Image:16thc-German-woodcut-Chastity-belt.jpg</a> ).
For a completely different Renaissance chastity-belt caricature (though expressing the same basic sentiments), see <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chastity_belt_satire.jpg" title="File:Chastity belt satire.jpg">File:Chastity belt satire.jpg</a>.
</p>
Note that historically the use of chastity belts was a Renaissance phenomenon, not actually medieval...
<bdi><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Heinrich_Vogtherr" class="extiw" title="w:en:Heinrich Vogtherr"><span title="German artist (1490-1556)">Heinrich Vogtherr</span></a>
</bdi>
circa 1540 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1540-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1480,Q5727902</div>
From Karikatur-album, C. E. Jensen, MDCCCCVI.