In Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta Appraised by Dante and Virgil, how is the Background discussed?
In the first volume, Inferno, of The Divine Comedy, Dante and Virgil meet Francesca and her lover Paolo in the second circle of hell, reserved for the lustful.
Da Rimini's father had forced her to marry the lame Giovanni Malatesta for political reasons, but she fell in love with Giovanni's brother Paolo. The pair carried on a love affair for many years; but when Giovanni caught them kissing, he killed them with his sword.  The painting shows a wound on Paolo's chest and on Francesca's back due to his stabbing.
The couple are trapped in an eternal whirlwind, doomed to be forever swept through the air just as they allowed themselves to be swept away by their passions. Dante calls out to the lovers, who are compelled to briefly pause before him, and he speaks with Francesca. She obliquely states a few of the details of her life and her death, and Dante, apparently familiar with her story, correctly identifies her by name. He asks her what led to her and Paolo's damnation, and Francesca's story strikes such a chord within Dante that he faints out of pity. The pair, depicted either during their life or following Dante, became a very popular subject in 19th-century art.
Virgil Dante Divine Comedy The Divine Comedy Giovanni Malatesta Dante and Virgil Inferno