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Artemisia Siena
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Artist: Domenico Beccafumi
Year: 1506-1507
Current location: Collezione Chigi Saracini
DESCRIPTIVE INFORMATION
The figure of Artemisia, a model of "legitimate love that deserves to be regarded with the deepest respect," is the second in a series of three of the earliest paintings on the theme of fidelity in marriage. The three ancient heroines who symbolize her are, respectively, Judith, the present Artemisia, and Cleopatra.
Queen Artemisia is mentioned in Book Four of Memorable Sayings. After evoking certain images of legitimate love that deserve to be regarded with the deepest respect, and demonstrating the effects of solid and unwavering marital fidelity—examples difficult to imitate, but always useful to know, because seeing the highest perfection achieved in others would make one ashamed not to rise even to average virtue—Valerius Maximus, not without justifying his choice of this example drawn from outside Rome, cites Artemisia among the models of marital love.
Artemisia, Queen of Caria, was deeply saddened by the loss of her husband. Any evidence of the intensity of her grief would be paltry compared to the honors of every kind she bestowed on his memory and the construction of the monument whose magnificence earned it a place among the seven wonders of the world.
But what is the point of listing these honors and speaking of this famous tomb? Didn't she herself wish to become the living tomb, if we are to believe the tales according to which, after her husband's death, she drank his ashes mixed with a beverage?
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