BY BIAGIO BARZOTTI, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

The subject here refers to the torrid love affair between the 12th century Parisian philosopher, Peter Abelard (d. 1142), and his pupil, the well-versed and equally educated, Heloise (d. 1164). While remaining under the charge of her uncle, Canon Fulbert, Heloise, twenty years his junior, took Abelard as her tutor and subsequently became pregnant by her instructor. After the birth of their son, Astrolabe, the pair was forced to marry by her uncle and Heloise was sent into hiding in a convent in Argenteuil. However, the couple exchanged letters and continued to meet--a glimpse of which is captured in this scene. The affair is further chronicled in Abelard's Historia calamitatum (A History of My Misfortunes). Upon receiving word of their continued affair, Canon Fulbert ordered the scholar castrated.

Working out of his studio located at 57 via del Babuino, Biagio Barzotti was an active mosaicist for the Vatican workshops through the end of the 19th century. On occasion, the artist was commissioned to render works for Pope Leo XIII (d.1903), the most notable of which depicts the Pontiff blessing a congregation at St. Peter's Basilica.