Luisa or Luigia Sanfelice (1764–1800) was an Italian aristocrat who was executed by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies because of her involvement with the French-backed Parthenopean Republic during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted French First Republic, France against Ki ...

, although Sanfelice was largely apolitical. As she was generally regarded as the innocent victim of circumstances, she became a legendary figure who was widely portrayed in popular culture. During the nineteenth century she was often depicted as a gentle and naïve beauty whose story closely resembled that of the fictional Fioria Tosca, heroine of the Puccini opera ''

Tosca ''Tosca'' is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900. The work, based on Victorien Sardou's 1 ...

''.Nicassio p. 117 Amongst those who have depicted Sanfelice's story are the French writer

Alexandre Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer ...

, who wrote the novel ''

La San Felice ''La Sanfelice'' (or ''La San Felice'') is an 1864 novel by the French writer Alexandre Dumas.Maxwell p.275 It depicts the arrest and execution in Naples of Luisa Sanfelice, who was accused of conspiring with the French and their supporters again ...

'' in 1864, and the artist

Giovacchino Toma Gioacchino Toma (24 January 1836 12 January 1891) was an Italian art instructor and painter, noted primarily for historic, realistic and genre subjects in a Romantic style. Toward the end of his life, Toma authored his autobiography, ''Memorie ...

, who painted ''

Luisa Sanfelice in Carcere Luisa (Italian and Spanish), Luísa (Portuguese) or Louise ( French) is a feminine given name; it is the feminine form of the given name Louis (Luis), the French form of the Frankish Chlodowig (German Ludwig), from the Germanic elements ''hlod' ...

'' in 1874, showing her in captivity before her execution. In the twentieth century, Sanfelice was portrayed in two films, ''

Luisa Sanfelice Luisa or Luigia Sanfelice (1764–1800) was an Italian aristocrat who was executed by Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies because of her involvement with the French-backed Parthenopean Republic during the French Revolutionary Wars, although Sanfelice ...

'' (1942) and ''

'' (2004).

Bibliography

* Lancaster, Jordan. ''In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Cultural History of Naples''. I.B.Tauris, 2005. * Nicassio, Susan Vandiver. ''Tosca's Rome: The Play and the Opera in Historical Perspective''. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

References

External links

1764 births 1800 deaths People of the Parthenopean Republic Executed Italian women 18th-century Neapolitan people Italian revolutionaries 18th-century Italian women {{Italy-bio-stub