The Story of Griselda the Story of Griselda Part II Exile

Artist: Master of the Story of Griselda (not listed, Active about 1490 - 1500)

Original Dimensions: 24 1/4" x 60 3/4"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (About 1494) "The story of a peasant woman called Griselda was told in The Decameron, a book written in the mid-fourteenth century. She was put through a series of tests by her rich husband, the Marquis Gualtieri di Saluzzo – we see three of them in this painting. In the background on the left, two tiny babies in white swaddling bandages are secretly carried away; the Marquis told Griselda he had ordered their children to be killed. Next, he pretended that he had annulled their marriage, and Griselda can be seen in the centre returning her wedding ring. She appears again in the next arcade, half-undressed: now divorced she returns her beautiful clothes and, wearing only her underdress, returns to her father’s house. Loyal throughout her ordeal, Griselda became a model of wifely virtue. This panel is one of three commissioned for a room in the Spanocchi family palace in Siena, probably made to celebrate two family marriages which took place in January 1494." - (National Gallery of Art, London)