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Onorata Rodiani
(1400-1452)
The Warrior Paintress
1 The guy’s name was Gabriolo Fondolo, and best as I can tell, tyrant was actually his title. It was one he seemed to earn – apparently the dude’s main regret in life was not throwing Pope John XXIII and Emperor Sigismund out a window when he had the chance. (source – and they’re talking about Antipope John XXIII, not regular Pope John XXIII. thank god nobody put them in contact with one another, they would have exploded.)
2 One of my sources claimed the only female fresco painter verified to have operated before Onorata was a 14th century Spaniard named Teresa Diaz. 
3 The sources actually don’t give much in the way of details about this abortive courtship, other than to say that he was persistent, that she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, and that he eventually resorted to violence. When he did, she stabbed him in the chest and killed him.
4 This part’s agreed upon by pretty much every telling – Fondolo pardoned her shortly after she fled. Also, the defenestration is a reference to his aforementioned frustration regarding papal window-tossing.
5 Curiously enough, Onorata died while in the employ of Conrado Sforza, defending Castelleone from Venetians. Sforza would go on to be the grandfather of incredible badass (and future RP) Caterina Sforza. As a (legendary) example of Caterina’s fortitude, when her children were held hostage outside a fortress she was holed up in, she ascended to the fortress ramparts, hiked her skirts, waved her nethers at her foes, and yelled, “I have the equipment to make more!” (This is likely an apocryphal story, but it was repeated at face value for centuries, which is a good indication of her reputation.)
6 “Dad I live, Dad I die,” basically.7 Agnodice is in the book!
8 Catalina de Erauso’s entry can be found right here!9 Artemisia Gentileschi is in the book!
Footnotes
| ↑1 | The guy’s name was Gabriolo Fondolo, and best as I can tell, tyrant was actually his title. It was one he seemed to earn – apparently the dude’s main regret in life was not throwing Pope John XXIII and Emperor Sigismund out a window when he had the chance. (source – and they’re talking about Antipope John XXIII, not regular Pope John XXIII. thank god nobody put them in contact with one another, they would have exploded.) |
| ↑2 | One of my sources claimed the only female fresco painter verified to have operated before Onorata was a 14th century Spaniard named Teresa Diaz. |
| ↑3 | The sources actually don’t give much in the way of details about this abortive courtship, other than to say that he was persistent, that she didn’t reciprocate his feelings, and that he eventually resorted to violence. When he did, she stabbed him in the chest and killed him. |
| ↑4 | This part’s agreed upon by pretty much every telling – Fondolo pardoned her shortly after she fled. Also, the defenestration is a reference to his aforementioned frustration regarding papal window-tossing. |
| ↑5 | Curiously enough, Onorata died while in the employ of Conrado Sforza, defending Castelleone from Venetians. Sforza would go on to be the grandfather of incredible badass (and future RP) Caterina Sforza. As a (legendary) example of Caterina’s fortitude, when her children were held hostage outside a fortress she was holed up in, she ascended to the fortress ramparts, hiked her skirts, waved her nethers at her foes, and yelled, “I have the equipment to make more!” (This is likely an apocryphal story, but it was repeated at face value for centuries, which is a good indication of her reputation.) |
| ↑6 | “Dad I live, Dad I die,” basically. |
| ↑7 | Agnodice is in the book! |
| ↑8 | Catalina de Erauso’s entry can be found right here! |
| ↑9 | Artemisia Gentileschi is in the book! |
Art Notes
- Good god, this took forever.
- In the poster image, she has armor on underneath her dress, which you can see on her hands and feet.
- The comic dialog is just generically old-timey and not at all period-accurate. Actual 15th century slang would be fairly difficult to follow.
- Onorata’s outfit is a little bit of a mishmash. Italian women of that era often had very elongated sleeves and trailing dresses, which I shortened for design’s sake — it was hard to have her do much otherwise.
- The courtier’s outfit is that of a 15th-century falconer, weirdly enough. I figured a falconer often probably had a lot of spare time during the day. He’s also a bit more tan because of that.
- One of the few surviving art pieces that is sometimes attributed to Onorata was of madonna and child – hence the tyrant’s talk about the wall needing more Jesus. The piece in question was actually in a church, and the tyrant’s fresco was in his palace, though.
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Next Time on Rejected Princesses
Few have a better claim to be an O.G. than this Madame-er, Queen.
