A Grim Gift: A Love Tragedy by Bernardino Mei

What could be worse than a parent forbidding love? A cruel act of revenge. In Ghismonda with the Heart of Guiscardo (1659), Italian artist Bernardino Mei captures the final scene of one of art history’s most chilling tales.

The story comes from Boccaccio’s novella. After her husband’s death, noblewoman Ghismonda falls in love with Guiscardo, a servant. When her father discovers their secret affair, he flies into a rage and orders the young man killed. But he goes further still: a casket is brought to Ghismonda, holding the heart of her beloved.

Mei captures the moment of greatest drama. Ghismonda does not crumble under fate’s blow; instead, she makes a final, fatal choice. She will mix poison with her lover’s blood and follow him in death. A psychological thriller in oil, painted long before cinema.

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