Cenci (chen'-che), Beatrice. A noble Roman lady whose tragic fate has served as theme of one of Shelley's best tragedies. Cenci lived in the 16th century. She became the victim of her father, Count Francesco Cenci, a notorious libertine. Failing in her appeal for protection from Pope Clement VIII, it has been said that she conspired with other members of her family to murder the count. When brought to trial on this charge, she asserted her innocence, but was nevertheless put to death, along with her relatives, in 1599. The fine portrait of Beatrice by Guido Reni, in the Barberini gallery at Rome, is well known.

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