Lot 12

The Collection of Ettore Viancini, Venice (later inscription on stretcher verso)
Robert Compton Jones

Novelli, M. A., Scarsellino, Fondazione Carife: Ferrara, 2008, cat. no. 299, p. 331

We are grateful to Dr Valentina Lapierre for endorsing the attribution to Scarsellino.

This scene depicts a variation of the medieval story of the sacrifice of Saint Ursula in the massacre of eleven thousand virgins. In the story Ursula was a virgin princess who had promised herself to Christ. However, her father, a Christian King, demanded she marry a pagan Prince in exchange for his agreement to convert to Christianity. Prior to the wedding Ursula made a pilgrimage to Rome, accompanied by eleven thousand virgins. Upon their arrival in Cologne they had the misfortune to run into the Huns who were besieging the city. Ursula refused to marry the leader of the Huns who had fallen in love with her and all the virgins were beheaded in the massacre. Ursula was martyred at the hands of the Huns' leader who fired the fatal arrow into her chest.

The most famous depiction of this scene was painted by Caravaggio and is thought to have been his last painting in 1610. It shows a more intimate depiction of the fatal arrow being shot at Ursula's heart. This painting is held in the collection of the Palazzo Zevallos Stigliano, Naples, Italy.