Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity!

When I saw this portrait of Beatrice Cenci by Guido Reni (1575-1642) in a museum in Rome a few weeks ago, I had no idea why the painter chose to portray this woman with such deep tragedy in her young eyes. I had never heard the story of the Cenci family, nor did I know that it was also the subject of several books, a 1969 movie and a full scale opera. What I learned when I started to look into the Cenci family history was that shocking family drama is not the exclusive domain of our current tabloid culture. Nor is unspeakable cruelty and intrigue merely the subject of the current bestseller, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

As promised, here is a brief synopsis of Beatrice's sordid story: Her father, Francesco Cenci, was a cruel but powerful man who physically abused his children, including Beatrice's two brothers and her step-mother. Although he had been in trouble with the papal courts and was known to be violent and immoral, he was always protected because of his wealth and status. When he went as far as sexually abusing her, Beatrice Cenci plotted to kill her father, with her brothers and step-mother in agreement. She had help from a young guard, who was also her lover. One version of the story claims that they had a child.

I read various accounts of how they did it (drugs, hammer, knife) but ultimately they killed Francesco and threw him off a balcony to make it look like an accident. Despite the sympathy of many Roman citizens, Francesco's position as a nobleman made it imperative that the murderers be punished. Pope Clement VII condemned the family to death for the murder. In 1599, at age 22, Beatrice Cenci was beheaded on a scaffold in Rome. Her brother and step-mother were also killed. Only one younger brother, age twelve, was allowed to live.

If I read this story in a novel or saw it as a play or a movie, I would have thought that it was pure fiction. But really, I should know better by now.

In every era, rich, powerful men (and women) have gotten away with abusing children or adults who they view as weaker or inferior. We have our very own Cenci stories: just ask Nancy Grace. Joran Van der Sloot thought he got away with murder in Aruba and in Peru, as did his father who sought to protect him with his powerful diplomatic influence. George Huguely, who murdered his beautiful Lacrosse-playing girlfriend, clearly didn't think at all, but somehow learned from his wealthy father that he could vent his anger and frustration with no real consequences. Even Tiger Woods, who I don't view as evil or psychotic, used his status and wealth to do things that most men and women would never dream of even trying to get away with.

If life imitates art, then in all of the above cases the perpetrators will pay an irrevocable price for their crimes. At least that's the way it goes in Hollywood and in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Unfortunately, it's too late for Natalee Holloway, Stephany Flores and Yeardley Love. The most we can hope for is that someone will paint their portrait and turn their lives into art.