Crivelli’s dead Christus probably the Pietà by the fifteenth-century Italian painter, Carlo Crivelli (c. 1430–1495), in the National Gallery in London.
“which alters when it alteration finds” from Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.
Faustina wife of Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius, she was reputed to be unfaithful.
Cornelia wife of Scipio Africanus the Younger (second cen. B.C.), who devoted herself to raising her twelve children and refused offers of marriage after she was widowed (Enc. Britannica, 7:167).
Lucretia or Lucrece, wife of Collantius, known for her virtue, who killed herself after being raped by Lucius Tarquinius.
Phryne Athenian courtesan who was the model and lover of Praxiteles, the sculptor.
“one deserving to be stoned” from John 8:3–11, instead of encouraging stoning, Jesus forgives a woman brought to him as an adulteress by the Scribes and Pharisees.
“wife of Uriah” Bathsheba, whom King David committed adultery with and then married after sending Uriah to his death on battle, from 2 Samuel 11.
“tale told by an idiot” from Macbeth 5.5.26–27.
“How are the mighty fallen” from 2 Samuel 1:19.
“prophet’s gourd” from Jonah 4:5–10, a gourd springs up overnight to give shade to Jonah.
Ixionian wheel in Greek mythology, Ixion’s eternal punishment was to be bound to a revolving wheel of fire.
