9. Gianlorenzo Bernini – Attempted Murder And Mutilation
Artists are known to be passionate individuals, but this case of an artist’s love-life gone wrong is extreme indeed. In the late 1630s Bernini was engaged in an affair with a married woman named Costanza – the wife of his workshop assistant, Matteo Bonucelli, also called Bonarelli. The artist sculpted a bust of her during the height of their romance. But she later had an affair with his younger brother. When Gian Lorenzo found out about Costanza and his brother, in a fit of mad fury, he chased his brother Luigi through the streets of Rome, intent on murdering him. To punish his unfaithful mistress, Bernini had a servant go to the house of Costanza and had her face slashed several times with a razor. The servant was later jailed – and Costanza was jailed for adultery.