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.