3-041-238 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Virginia Killed by Her Father to Save Her from the Attentions of Appius Claudius; Des cas des nobles hommes et femmes, about 1413-1415. Additional Info: Her head placed upon a block, the young Roman woman Virginia awaits a fatal blow from her father in front of Roman judges. Beautiful and virtuous, Virginia had been promised in marriage to a Roman tribune named Lucius. At the behest of his commander, Appius Claudius, who secretly desired her, however, a sergeant named Marcus claimed Virginia for his own. Lucius and Marcus stated their claims to the woman before a group of judges that included Appius. When Appius judged unfairly in favor of his sergeant, Virginia's father publicly executed her to protest the judge's misuse of power in claiming Virginia for himself and forcing her to break her vow to Lucas.