Death of Francesca de Rimini and Paolo Malesta (1870). Alexandre Cabanel (French, 1823-1889).&n
Death of Francesca de Rimini and Paolo Malesta (1870). Alexandre Cabanel (French, 1823-1889). Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay.From verse by Dante in Canto V of The Divine Comedy. The composition is scholarly, the painting smooth and the drawing precise; care has been taken over the iconographic details. The book that has dropped from Francesca’s hands is a reminder that the lovers were reading Lancelot, a story of courtly love, at the time of the murder, while the murderer hidden behind a thick hanging is still clutching his bloody sword. -- source link
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