Fillide Melandroni (

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, 1581 –

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 1618) was an Italian

courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress (lover), mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the Royal cour ...

and friend of the painter

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

, who used her as a

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...

in several of his compositions.

Biography

Melandroni was born in Siena, Italy, in 1581. Her father, Enea, died when she was young and in February 1593 her mother, Cinzia, took Fillide and her brother Sivilo to

. Her friend Anna Bianchini, Bianchini's mother Sibilla, brother Mateo, and sister Alessandra went to Rome with them. In Rome, the two families stayed at the same house in Via dell'Armata. Soon after, the two mothers set the girls to work as

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

s. Melandroni and Bianchini were arrested in April 1594 for being outside the

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

quarter after dusk, suspected of

soliciting Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...

; they were just 13 and 14 years old respectively at the time. Melandroni rose amongst the ranks of prostitutes to become one of the most sought-after women in Rome. She had a house in Rome's Ortaccio, and many wealthy clients, including cardinals and bankers. One of most notable was Italian banker and art collector

Vincenzo Giustiniani Marchese Vincenzo Giustiniani (13 September 1564 – 27 December 1637) was an aristocratic Italian banker, art collector and intellectual of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known today largely for the Giustiniani art collection, assembled ...

who was the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of the artist Caravaggio. Fillide figured prominently in Caravaggio's work in the closing years of the 1590s, appearing in '' Portrait of a Courtesan'', as '' Saint Catherine'', as Mary in '' Martha and Mary Magdalene'', and as Judith in ''

Judith Beheading Holofernes The account of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith is given in the deuterocanonical ''Book of Judith'', and is the subject of many paintings and sculptures from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In the story, Judith, a beautiful widow, is ab ...

''. She may have appeared even more frequently - a considerable number of Caravaggio's works are now lost - but she seems to vanish from his paintings after 1599, except perhaps in '' The Entombment of Christ'' (1603). Melandroni was involved with a young man from a noble family, Ranuccio Tomassoni, who may have been her

pimp Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still ...

. On 11 February 1599, there was a complaint about a noisy party at Melandroni house, and that the men in attendance were armed. As the carrying of arms was prohibited in the Ortaccio the authorities went to the house. By the time of their arrival, there was only Melandroni and three men present, one of whom was Tomassoni who was wearing a sword. Melandroni and Tomassoni were arrested. The

Vicariate of Rome it, Vicario Generale di Sua Santità , unofficial_names = Cardinal Vicar , insignia = Coat of arms Holy See.svg , insigniasize = 75px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms of the Diocese of Rome , image = AngeloDeDonatis.jpg , incumbent = Angel ...

declared Melandroni a "''cortigiana scandalosa''" in 1599 for refusing the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...

. Later the same year she was arrested for possessing a weapon that Tomassoni had given her. In late 1600, Melandroni was reported to the police for attacking another courtesan, Prudenza Zacchia, with a knife, cutting her above the wrist after Zacchia raised her arm to defend herself. Melandroni had previously attacked Zacchia with a knife after she found her in bed with Tomassoni. On that occasion Melandroni had been disarmed by another male who was present. Caravaggio killed Tomassoni, perhaps unintentionally, on 28 May 1606. The two fought after a game of tennis and when Tomassoni fell to the ground, Caravaggio delivered a fatal stab to Tomassoni's upper thigh. Whilst some writers attribute the fight to a disagreement over the

tennis match The tennis scoring system is a standard widespread method for scoring tennis matches, including pick-up games. Some tennis matches are played as part of a tournament, which may have various categories, such as singles and doubles. The great majo ...

, others point to a deeper disagreement between the two, possibly over Caravaggio having a longstanding debt to Tomassoni, a dispute over Melandroni or the suggestion Caravaggio was a

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

. Those authors take the view that Caravaggio had tried to

castrate Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceut ...

Tomassoni but the sword had caught Tomassoni's upper thigh and cut his

femoral artery The femoral artery is a large artery in the thigh and the main arterial supply to the thigh and leg. The femoral artery gives off the deep femoral artery or profunda femoris artery and descends along the anteromedial part of the thigh in the fem ...

causing him to bleed to death. After the murder Caravaggio fled the city. In 1612 Melandroni was forced to leave Rome by the family of

Venetian Venetian often means from or related to: * Venice, a city in Italy * Veneto, a region of Italy * Republic of Venice (697–1797), a historical nation in that area Venetian and the like may also refer to: * Venetian language, a Romance language s ...

poet and

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

writer

Giulio Strozzi Giulio Strozzi (1583 - 31 March 1652) was a Venetian poet and libretto writer. His libretti were put to music by composers like Claudio Monteverdi, Francesco Cavalli, Francesco Manelli, and Francesco Sacrati. He sometimes used the pseudonym Luigi ...

, who was her current lover. She returned to Rome two years later. Writing a

will Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

in October 1614, Melandroni bequeathed her portrait by Caravaggio to Strozzi. This was possibly a different work than the ''Portrait of a Courtesan''. Melandroni died in 1618, at the age of thirty-seven. The Church refused to give her a

Christian burial A Christian burial is the burial of a deceased person with specifically Christian rites; typically, in consecrated ground. Until recent times Christians generally objected to cremation because it interfered with the concept of the resurrection of ...

In Caravaggio's paintings

Notes and references

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Melandroni, Fillide Italian courtesans Italian female models Italian artists' models Caravaggio 1581 births 1618 deaths People from Siena 16th-century Italian women 17th-century Italian women