A Woman to Know: Beatrice Cenci

Her eyes, which we are told were remarkable for their vivacity, are swollen with weeping and lustreless, but beautifully tender and serene. — Percy Bysshe Shelley

Her eyes, which we are told were remarkable for their vivacity, are swollen with weeping and lustreless, but beautifully tender and serene. — Percy Bysshe Shelley

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

In 1599, Beatrice’s father, the wealthy and venerable Francisco Cenci, fell from his castle balcony. When the Pope’s investigators showed up to the family compound …