Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index

Title: Ordeal by Fire
Creator: Bouts, Dieric, the Elder, painter
Description: According to the Golden Legend, the wife of Holy Roman Emperor Otto III falsely accused a one of Otto’s married noblemen of rape after he rebuffed her advances. As a result, the emperor had the nobleman beheaded immediately. Here, the man’s wife undergoes the ordeal by fire to prove her husband’s innocence. In the foreground, Otto and his courtiers watch the woman successfully pass the ordeal. In the background, Otto’s wife is burned at the stake to restore the balance of justice.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Rights: Public domain
Subject (See Also): Executions Jacob of Voragine, Archbishop of Genoa- Legenda Aurea Ordeals, Judicial Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor Wives
Geographic Area: Low Countries
Century: 15
Date: 1460
Related Work: Justice of the Emperor Otto (Justice Panels), Execution of the Innocent Count: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bouts_Justice_Execution_of_the_Innoce
Current Location: Brussels, Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts
Original Location: Leuven, Town Hall
Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Oil; Wood; Diptych panel
Donor: Laymen; Town council of Leuven
Height/Width/Length(cm): 182 cm/ 71.7"/324 cm/ 127.6"/
Inscription:
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