Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo [SEP] creator
Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo
Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo, fully titled Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo, her murder'd Husband, is an oil painting by British artist William Hogarth. Finished in 1759, it was the principal piece of the eight works he displayed in an exhibition in 1761. It was the final and most ambitious of his attempts to secure for himself a reputation as a history painter. It depicts a dramatic moment in one of the "novelle" in Boccaccio's "Decameron"
, Hogarth released him from their bargain.
Reception.
Hogarth exhibited the painting at the Society of Artists in Spring Gardens in 1761. Although press reports – perhaps placed by Hogarth and his supporters – were enthusiastic, "Sigismunda mourning over the Heart of Guiscardo" was attacked by critics who marked Hogarth's attempt to emulate the drama depicted in older Italian paintings as foolhardy and ridiculous. Many critics were repulsed by the shocking contrast between the melancholy beauty of Sigismunda and the grotesquely bloody organ that she delicately touched. It was