Cy apres sensuit de armonie fille de gillon · Centre for Early Modern Visual Culture

Title: Cy apres sensuit de armonie fille de gillon
Subject: Important Women; Famous Women; Noble Women; Devotion; Loyalty; Bravery; Rebellion; Harmonia
Period: 1400-1450;
Geographic: Italy; Syracuse
Description: This illumination depicts a young servant girl, disguised as the noble Harmonia, about to get stabbed to death by the men who are surrounding her. Boccaccio explains that there was a rebellion in Syracuse against nobility, and because Harmonia was the niece of the king, she was in danger. Harmonia’s nurse disguised a servant girl to look exactly like Harmonia so that when the rebels came, the real Harmonia would be safe. This illumination depicts the servant girl who died in Harmonia’s place. The nurse is illustrated in the blue shirt on the left side of the image.
Image Creator: Anonymous (Illuminator)
Type: Text; Illumination
Identifier: mta:18492
Language: frm
Source Name: Livre que fist Jehan BOCACE de Certalde des cleres et nobles femmes, lequel il envoia à Audice de Accioroles de Florence, contesse de Haulteville [Book from Giovanni Boccaccio of Certaldo called the cleric and noble women, of which he sent to Audice Accioroles of Florence, Countess of Haulteville]
Parent Collection: 1401 Florence
Image: mta_18492_OBJ.jpg