Francesca da Rimini

Gianciotto Discovers Paolo and Francesca, by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres.

Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (1255 – 1285) was the beautiful daughter of Guido da Polenta of Ravenna. She was a historical contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy.

Arranged marriage

Guido da Polenta had been at war with the Malatesta family. Peace had been negotiated, and Guido wanted to solidify it by marrying his daughter Francesca to the Malatestan heir, Giovanni Malatesta of Rimini. Giovanni was brave but lame and deformed. Guido knew Francesca would refuse him, so the wedding was performed by proxy through Giovanni's handsome brother, Paolo.

Francesca fell in love with Paolo and was unaware of the deception until the morning after the wedding day.

Paolo and Francesca became lovers after being seduced by reading the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. Subsequently, in 1285, they were surprised and murdered by Giovanni. The name "Francesca" became popular among aristocrats.

Related works

Rodin's The Kiss was originally titled Francesca da Rimini.

• Dante, Divine Comedy. (Inferno, Canto V), (1308-1321)
• Joseph Anton Koch, Paolo and Francesca Surprised by Gianciotto, 1805-10. Watercolor, Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen.
• Silvio Pellico, Francesca da Rimini. (1818). Tragedy.
• Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Paolo and Francesca (1819). Oil on canvas. Musée des Beux-Arts, Angers, France.
• George Henry Boker, Francesca da Rimini. (1853). Play.
• Ary Scheffer, Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta appraised by Dante and Virgil (1855). Oil on canvas. Wallace Collection, London.
• Alexandre Cabanel, The Death of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta (1870). Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris.
• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Francesca da Rimini. Symphonic Poem (1876).
• Auguste Rodin, The Kiss. Marble sculpture (1888), Musée Rodin, Paris.
• Gabriele d'Annunzio, Francesca da Rimini. Tragedy written (1901) for d'Annunzio's mistress, Eleonora Duse.
• Sergei Rachmaninoff, Francesca da Rimini. Opera (1906).
• Riccardo Zandonai, Francesca da Rimini. Opera (1914).

External links

• WisdomPortal Includes images of related artworks.

Reference

• 1970 The Divine Comedy, Inferno/Commentary. Charles S. Singleton, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-01895-2

Joseph Anton Koch, Paolo and Francesca Surprised by Gianciotto (1805-10).

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