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Paola and Francesca
pencil
Gordon Napier
Dante and Vigil in the underworld
speak to the souls of Paolo and Francesca, the tragic lover. (Inferno,
Canto v)
Very much inspired by the illustrations
of Gustav Dore, although with the couple's pose borrowed from Bouguereau's
Cupid and Psyche.
Paolo and Francesca were a real life
pair in medieval Italy. Francesca was tricked into marrying Paolo's brother
Giovanni, thinking it was Paolo she was to wed. Her father Guido da Polenta
wanted to clinch a peace treaty with their clan, the Malatesta, the only
trouble was that the eldest brother, who stood to inherit the lordship
of Rimini, was malformed and a bit of a villain to boot.
Paolo continued to visit Francesca, and one day when reading a book about
Lancelot and Guinevere they were inspired to kiss for the first time.
Her husband Giovanni, at that, jumped out from behind a curtain and stabbed
the couple to death. The lovers were immortalized by Dante in his poem.
Dante imagines a rather ruthless God
who has dreamt up terrible tortures for the souls of sinners. The souls
of 'carnal malefactors' are caught up in an endless torrent of souls winding
through the cavernous second circle of Hell, buffeted and assailed. Yet
whatever the jealous King of the Universe can throw at them, the one thing
he seems unable to do to Paolo and Francesca is part them.
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