Marriage of Nastagio degli Onesti (The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti - fourth episode)

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Marriage of Nastagio degli Onesti (The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti - fourth episode): Sandro Botticelli

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Sandro Botticelli Various Paintings - Marriage of Nastagio degli Onesti (The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti - fourth episode)

Keywords: Marriage, Nastagio, degli, Onesti, Story, Nastagio, degli, Onesti, episode

Work Overview: Marriage of Nastagio degli Onesti (The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti - fourth episode)
Sandro Botticelli
c. 1483
Tempera on panel
83 x 142 cm
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Nastagio degli Onesti is the protagonist in one of the one hundred short stories contained in The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio. The eighth story of the fifth day, it tells of the unrequited love of the nobleman Nastagio for a girl who will eventually be induced to accept Nastagio's affection by the appearance of a rejected lover and her beloved.

Sandro Botticelli made a series of four panels that illustrate many episodes of the story Boccaccio, thought to have been commissioned by Lorenzo the Magnificent in 1483 as a gift to Giannozzo Pucci at her marriage to Lucrezia Bini of that year. Originally stored in Palace Pucci, in the second half of the nineteenth century they were dispersed: three are now in the Prado, and only one, the last, has returned to its original location after being, among other things, in the Collection Watney of Charlbury at London.

In the 1480s Botticelli gained commissions from the families in high society. Increasingly they chose classical themes for the luxurious decoration of their town houses, but they also included some from contemporary literature. In order to be able to carry out his multiple commissions, Botticelli had to work together with other painters as well as members of his own workshop. The four-part Nastagio degli Onesti cycle, Botticelli's reworking of a novella in Boccaccio's Decameron, was produced with the aid of Bartolomeo di Giovanni, an artist who had also worked for Ghirlandaio.

Nastagio degli Onesti, a knight from Ravenna, whose beloved initially refused to marry him, finally weds her after all. First of all, however, he must remind her of the eternal agony in hell of another merciless woman, one who had also refused marriage, her rejected lover had to pursue her until he had caught up with her, killed her, torn out her heart and intestines and fed them to his dogs.

The occasion for which Botticelli's patron, Antonio Pucci, ordered these pictures was the wedding of his son Giannozzo to Lucrezia Bini. The paintings originally decorated a room in the old Pucci palace and were set into a 'spalliera', a type of wall paneling. Botticelli was the first to adapt Boccaccio's story for panel painting, and his pictures, which were freely copied shortly afterwards, were in many respects exemplary for spalliera painting.

While the first two paintings restricted themselves to the events in the novella, the third and fourth panels translated the story, which takes place in Ravenna, to the situation in Florence. The father of the bridegroom, Antonio Pucci, is portrayed on the third painting amidst the guests, and on the fourth is even shown in a group of other prominent public figures in the city. Above each of the banqueting tables are Florentine family coats of arms, on the left that of the father of the bridegroom, on the right that of the newly-founded Pucci-Bini family. In the centre, the Medici coat of arms is emblazoned. It is probable that Lorenzo de' Medici arranged the marriage.

The fourth painting naturally represents the woman saying sweetly: "In that case, I'll marry you", and we are present for the marriage of Dona Lucrezia Bini and Ugolino degli Onesti.

A considerable contribution to the execution of this panel by Jacopo del Sellaio is assumed.

The calmness of the last painting shows a happy ending to the story that was full of violence. It also shows the end result of squandering away love, money and life. This was the message Botticelli wanted to convey to the recently wed couple to whom he was presenting these pictures.

In the last two paintings, both the Pucci and Medic coat of arms are represented as well as the combined Pucci and Bini coat of arms. All three, in the last picture, are framed by laurel leaves which represent that Lorenzo Medic played the very important role of arranging the Pucci and Bini marriage. They were showing their gratitude to the Medici family by displaying their symbols during a very important event.

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Marriage of Nastagio degli Onesti (The Story of Nastagio degli Onesti - fourth episode)

Sandro Botticelli

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