Ghismonda Receiving the Heart of her Lover
by BALASSI, Mario, Oil on canvas, 248 x 166 cm
This painting illustrates a tale (the first tale on the fourth day) from Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron.
Tancredi, Prince of Salerno and father of Ghismonda, slays his daughter’s lover, Guiscardo, and sends her his heart in a golden cup. Ghismonda, the daughter, pours upon it a poisonous distillation, which she drinks and dies.