Fillide Melandroni (

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, 1581 –

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, 1618) was an Italian

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

and friend of the painter

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (also Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi da Caravaggio; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), known mononymously as Caravaggio, was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the fina ...

, who used her as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...

in several of his compositions.

Biography

Melandroni was born in Siena, Italy, in 1581. Her father, Enea, died when she was young and in February 1593 her mother, Cinzia, took Fillide and her brother Sivilo to

. Her friend Anna Bianchini, Bianchini's mother Sibilla, brother Mateo, and sister Alessandra went to Rome with them. In Rome, the two families stayed at the same house in Via dell'Armata. Soon after, the two mothers set the girls to work as

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

s. Melandroni and Bianchini were arrested in April 1594 for being outside the

brothel A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...

quarter after dusk, suspected of

soliciting Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

; they were just 13 and 14 years old respectively at the time. Melandroni rose amongst the ranks of prostitutes to become one of the most sought-after women in Rome. She had a house in Rome's Ortaccio, and many wealthy clients, including cardinals and bankers. One of the most notable was Italian banker and art collector Vincenzo Giustiniani who was the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of the artist Caravaggio. Fillide figured prominently in Caravaggio's work in the closing years of the 1590s, appearing in '' Portrait of a Courtesan'', as '' Saint Catherine'', as Mary in '' Martha and Mary Magdalene'', and as Judith in ''

Judith Beheading Holofernes The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical Book of Judith, and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance art, Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautifu ...

''. She may have appeared even more frequently - a considerable number of Caravaggio's works are now lost - but she seems to vanish from his paintings after 1599, except perhaps in '' The Entombment of Christ'' (1603). Melandroni was involved with a young man from a noble family, Ranuccio Tomassoni, who may have been her

pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

. On 11 February 1599, there was a complaint about a noisy party at Melandroni house, and that the men in attendance were armed. As the carrying of arms was prohibited in the Ortaccio the authorities went to the house. By the time of their arrival, there was only Melandroni and three men present, one of whom was Tomassoni who was wearing a sword. Melandroni and Tomassoni were arrested. The Vicariate of Rome declared Melandroni a "''cortigiana scandalosa''" in 1599 for refusing the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

. Later the same year she was arrested for possessing a weapon that Tomassoni had given her. In late 1600, Melandroni was reported to the police for attacking another courtesan, Prudenza Zacchia, with a knife, cutting her above the wrist after Zacchia raised her arm to defend herself. Melandroni had previously attacked Zacchia with a knife after she found her in bed with Tomassoni. On that occasion Melandroni had been disarmed by another male who was present. Caravaggio killed Tomassoni, perhaps unintentionally, on 28 May 1606. The two fought after a game of tennis and when Tomassoni fell to the ground, Caravaggio delivered a fatal stab to Tomassoni's upper thigh. Whilst some writers attribute the fight to a disagreement over the tennis match, others point to a deeper disagreement between the two, possibly over Caravaggio having a longstanding debt to Tomassoni, a dispute over Melandroni or the suggestion Caravaggio was a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...

. Those authors take the view that Caravaggio had tried to

castrate Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical d ...

Tomassoni but the sword had caught Tomassoni's upper thigh and cut his

femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the femoral triangle. It enters ...

causing him to bleed to death. After the murder Caravaggio fled the city. In 1612 Melandroni was forced to leave Rome by the family of Venetian poet and

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

writer Giulio Strozzi, who was her current lover. She returned to Rome two years later. Writing a

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

in October 1614, Melandroni bequeathed her portrait by Caravaggio to Strozzi. This was possibly a different work than the ''Portrait of a Courtesan''. Melandroni died in 1618, at the age of thirty-seven. The Church refused to give her a

Christian burial A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation and practiced inhumation almost exclusively. Today this opposi ...

In Caravaggio's paintings

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melandroni, Fillide Italian courtesans Italian female models Italian artists' models Caravaggio 1581 births 1618 deaths People from Siena 16th-century Italian women 17th-century Italian women