''The Story of Virginia'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, ''Storie di Virginia''), is a painting by the early Italian Renaissance artist

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

. It is a tempera on panel and measures 86 cm tall and 165 cm wide. It is in the

Accademia Carrara The Accademia Carrara, (), officially Accademia Carrara di Belle Arti di Bergamo, is an art gallery and an academy of fine arts in Bergamo, in Lombardy in northern Italy. The art gallery was established in about 1780 by , a Bergamasco collecto ...

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. It is one of the last works that Botticelli made exemplifying virtue, like ''The Story of Lucretia''. The painting has a fundamental theme of violated honor and matrimonial fidelity. The combination of several scenes in a single image was common in the art of the early Renaissance. These are read from left to right: *

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, in the company of other women, is violated or assaulted by Marcus Claudius, who wants to force her to yield to Appius Claudius Crassus; * He carries her to the tribunal presided by Appius Claudius who declares her a slave; * The father and the husband of the woman plead for clemency * The father, to preserve the family honor, kills her and flees on horseback. This story is developed within a setting of

classical architecture Classical architecture typically refers to architecture consciously derived from the principles of Ancient Greek architecture, Greek and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or more specifically, from ''De archit ...

, in which the figures are agitated, painted with vibrant colors.

References

*"Botticelli", ''Los grandes genios del arte'', n.º 29, Eileen Romano (dir.), Unidad Editorial, S.A., 2005, 1500s paintings Paintings by Sandro Botticelli Collection of the Accademia Carrara Horses in art {{1500s-painting-stub

See also

References