The "ghosting" of incest and female relations in Harriet Hosmer's Beatrice Cenci

Like Powers's hellenic Slave (Fig. 11), Hosmer's Beatrice Cenci enabled viewers to consider female sexuality and vulnerability during a period of increased interest about the dangers of sexuality. the couple women--one captive, the other imprisoned--represent the epitome of female sexuality during this period: resigned, aloof, passionless, endangered, and morally superior from one side her steadfast faith. The theme of incest, moreover, permits the viewer to consider forbidden desire from a distance, condemning the perpetrator, sympathizing with the victim, and contemplating the dangers of sexuality within the morally sanctioned atmosphere of spirituality manifest in the rosary that Cenci fingers. (44) Beatrice Cenci also inscribes sexuality and guilt onto the spectacle of innocence, but since the make submissive is sleeping, these elements are unconscious.