[split] Nude figures wearing crowns

[MichelleL11]

If l find other examples of nudes with crowns, l’ll post.

Back with another nude couple with crowns.    

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This time it's illustrating the death of Rosamund and Emelcis (aka Hemelcis) in a book by Giovanni Boccacio (French translation), original title De casibus virorum illustrium (translates roughly to "Cases of the Distinguished") and is basically a collection of morality tales about the deaths of famous people over history.

The crowns in the bath here establish that both Rosamund and Emelcis are royalty/distinguished persons, specifically a queen and a would be king in the 4th century. Rosamund had been married to the Lombard king, Albion, who was a very cruel husband.  She takes Emelcis, the king's arm bearer as a lover and they plot to kill Albion.  Ultimately, Rosamund manipulates one of Emelcis' friends (by tricking him into sleeping with her and using the fact that he had slept with the King's wife as blackmail) to kill Albion. Albion is then slain in his bed, although various versions have the friend or Emelcis as the actual murderer.

Rosamund and Emelcis attempt to usurp the throne, fail, and then run off together to Ravenna with Albion's treasures.  They get married, but Rosamund decides it would be in her best interest to take another man, Longinus, as a lover -- he was another conspirator in Albion's murder.  She decides to murder Emelcis with poison after the illustrated bath to be with Longinus (see bowl filled with poison in above illustration).  However, Emelcis forces Rosamund to drink the poison, thus ending her life, then he commits suicide using the rest of the poison.  They thus become a couple of moral examples of reaping what you sow.

Likely nothing to do with the VM -- but I do like stories -- so here is quite a tangled historical one for fun and amusement.