The Decameron, 1916 (oil on canvas)

“A Tale from the Decameron” by John William Waterhouse depicts a scene from Boccaccio’s Decameron. The Decameron contains a collection of 100 tales told by a group of seven young women and three young men who are sheltering in a secluded villa just outside Florence to escape the Black Death of 1348.They amused themselves by each reciting one story a day for ten days. The word Decameron combines the two Greek words for ‘ten’ and ‘day’. Each day one member of the party led the group and was given a crown to signify his or her authority. Waterhouse shows the group seated together on the grass telling their tales.