Love and Gentle Heart Sampler

This design was inspired by a poem of Dante Alighieri:
"Amore e 'l cor gentil sono una cosa, sì come il saggio in suo dittare pone, e così esser l'un sanza l'altro osa com'alma razional sanza ragione....... from which I translated the first sentence: Love and the gentle heart are one same thing. This sampler is dedicated to three lovely women living in Rome, my friends Rosanna, Simona e Gabriella. I'm deeply grateful to them for their loving support and friendship and for having encouraged me to create a model for the Hobby Show of November 2005, Rome, Italy.
I have designed the chart and chosen two threads of Week Dye Works, but Simona has completed the palette of threads and found the fabric. So this is truly a collaboration sampler and I am very proud of it. I'm strongly convinced that we have to co-work in life and that this rule applies to needlework art too.
Stitch Count: 132 w x 165 H
Design Area: 9 1/2 " (24 cm) x 11 7/8" (30.5 cm) on 28 ct