The Story of Nastagio Degli Onesti, part four

This fourth panel of the Story of Nastagio degli Onesti at the Palazzo Pucci depicts the banquet scene that concludes Boccaccio's tale: Nastagio, having shown the gruesome ghost hunt to his beloved, succeeds in winning her acceptance as Signora Traversari witnesses the punishment reserved for women who spurn their lovers. The resolution makes explicit the cautionary moral underlying the narrative's supernatural violence. Botticelli's four-panel cycle was commissioned for the 1483 wedding of Giannozzo Pucci and Lucrezia Bini, Boccaccio's story chosen as both entertainment and marital instruction. The final panel's festive banquet setting, painted with Botticelli's characteristic decorative refinement, provides a ceremonial conclusion to the narrative.

The banquet scene is arranged with Botticelli's characteristic compositional clarity, the outdoor wedding feast depicted with attention to the elegant costumes and architectural setting of quattrocento Florence.