Francesca da Rimini facts for kids
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Francesca da Rimini (also known as Francesca da Polenta) was a noblewoman from the Middle Ages. She lived in a city called Ravenna, in Italy. She is famous because her story was told by the famous poet Dante Alighieri in his book, the Divine Comedy. She lived around the same time as Dante, between 1283 and 1286.
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Francesca's Life Story
Francesca was the daughter of Guido I da Polenta, a leader from Ravenna. Around 1275, she married Giovanni Malatesta. This marriage was arranged to bring peace between their families, who had been fighting. Giovanni was a brave man, but he had a physical challenge.
While living in Rimini, Francesca became very close to Giovanni's younger brother, Paolo. They spent a lot of time together. Sadly, Giovanni found them together and, in a fit of rage, he killed both Francesca and Paolo. This happened sometime between 1283 and 1286.
Francesca in Dante's Divine Comedy
Francesca appears as a character in Dante's Inferno. This is the first part of his famous book, the Divine Comedy. In the story, she is one of the first characters in Hell who gets to speak a lot. Dante probably learned about Francesca from her nephew, Guido II da Polenta, who hosted Dante in Ravenna.
In Inferno 5, Dante and his guide, Virgil, meet Francesca and Paolo. They are in the second circle of Hell, which is for people who gave in to their strong desires. The couple is blown around by strong winds, just like they let their feelings sweep them away in life.
Dante talks to Francesca. She tells their story while Paolo cries quietly. Francesca explains that she felt love took over her. She says that Paolo loved her first. She describes how "Love, which is swiftly kindled in the noble heart, seized this one for the lovely person that was taken from me." She felt like a helpless victim of her situation.
Francesca also says that "Love, which pardons no one loved from loving in return, seized me for his beauty so strongly that, as you see, it still does not abandon me." She felt that her love for Paolo was controlled by "Love" itself. She didn't see it as her own choice. Finally, she says that "Love led us on to one death." Francesca doesn't take responsibility for how their relationship started or ended.
Francesca tells Dante that their relationship began when they were reading a story about Lancelot du Lac. She says, "he, who will never be separated from me, kissed my mouth, all trembling. Galeotto was the book and he who wrote it: that day we read there no further." She felt that the book itself made them act.
Dante shows Francesca with a strong and convincing voice. She is never stopped by anyone else in the story. Francesca's words are powerful. They sound like the love poems Dante wrote when he was younger. Because of this, Francesca becomes a reflection of Dante himself.
After Francesca finishes her story, Dante faints. He "fell as a dead body falls." This shows how much he understood her feelings. Even though Dante shows Francesca in Hell, he tells her story with kindness. This gives her a special place in history. Her story became important beyond just her life.
- Works of art inspired by the Inferno scene
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Joseph Anton Koch: Dante and Virgil in the Second Circle in Hell, 1823
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Amelia Bauerle: Paolo and Francesca, 1902
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John Riley Wilmer: Paolo and Francesca, 1930
Other Works Inspired by Francesca
Francesca's story has inspired many artists, writers, and musicians over the centuries.
Plays and Operas
- Silvio Pellico, Francesca da Rimini, a play (1818)
- Feliciano Strepponi, Francesca da Rimini, an opera (1823)
- George Henry Boker, Francesca da Rimini, a play (1853)
- Hermann Goetz, Francesca von Rimini, an opera (1877)
- Gabriele D'Annunzio, Francesca da Rimini, a play (1901)
- Ambroise Thomas, Françoise de Rimini, an opera (1882)
- Sergei Rachmaninoff, Francesca da Rimini, an opera (1906)
- Riccardo Zandonai, Francesca da Rimini, an opera (1914)
Music
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Francesca da Rimini, a symphonic poem (1876)
- Arthur Foote, Symphonic Prologue Francesca da Rimini (1890)
- Andrew Hozier-Byrne, "Francesca" from Unreal Unearth album (2023)
Film
- Paolo e Francesca, a 1950 film by Raffaello Matarazzo
Art
- Joseph Anton Koch, Paolo and Francesca Surprised by Gianciotto, a watercolor (1805)
- Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Paolo and Francesca, an oil painting (1819)
- Ary Scheffer, Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil, an oil painting (1835)
- Gustave Doré, Francesca da Rimini, illustrations for Dante's Inferno (1857)
- Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, an oil painting (1862)
- Alexandre Cabanel, The Death of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta, an oil painting (1870)
- Auguste Rodin, The Kiss, a marble sculpture (1888)
- The tête-à-tête
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Antonio Canova: Paolo et Francesca da Rimini (National Museum of History and Art, Luxembourg)
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William Dyce: Francesca da Rimini, oil on canvas, 1837 (Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh)
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Anselm Feuerbach: Paolo und Francesca, study, 1864 (Kunsthalle Mannheim)
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Anselm Feuerbach: Paolo und Francesca, sketch, 1864
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Anselm Feuerbach: Paolo und Francesca, oil on canvas, 1864 (Schackgalerie, Munich)
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Charles Edward Hallé: Paolo and Francesca, oil on canvas
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Ludwik Wiesiołowski: Francesca i Paolo, oil on canvas, 1885
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Frank Dicksee: Paolo and Francesca, oil on canvas, 1894
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- The dagger scene and the lovers' death
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Joseph Anton Koch: Paolo da Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini surprised by Gianciotto Malatesta, 1805 (Thorvaldsen Museum)
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Bartolomeo Pinelli: La Franceschina di Rimini, c. 1809 (Thorvaldsen Museum, Copenhagen)
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Marie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie: The Tragic Love of Francesca da Rimini, 1812 (Napoleonmuseum, Arenenberg, Constance)
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Eugène Delacroix: Paolo et Francesca, watercolor, 1825
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Alfred Elmore: Paolo and Francisca, brush drawing
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Francisco Díaz Carreño: Francisca de Rímini, oil on canvas, 1866 (Prado, Madrid)
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Alexandre Cabanel: Mort de Francesca de Rimini et de Paolo Malatesta, c. 1870
(Musée d'Orsay, Paris)
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See also
In Spanish: Francesca de Rímini para niños
