Monte Nero is named as the point of reference for Ricciardo di Chinzica’s country estate, the setting for a brief domestic retreat that turns into the sea abduction of his wife, Bartolomea. The story uses the estate as a point of departure: the decisive action unfolds not at the house but during a boating excursion offshore.

Setting and Association

The estate near Monte Nero belongs to the wealthy judge Ricciardo di Chinzica, who brings Bartolomea there during hot weather to spend several days taking the air. The text does not describe the mountain or the estate in detail; it identifies the place through its proximity to Ricciardo’s property and its role in the couple’s journey from the countryside to the sea.

The Seaside Excursion

To entertain Bartolomea, Ricciardo arranges a fishing outing in two boats. He travels with the fishermen, while Bartolomea is in the other boat with several women. As the sport draws them onward, the boats drift several miles out to sea before the party notices how far they have gone.

Narrative Significance

A galliot commanded by Paganino da Mare overtakes the women’s boat and carries Bartolomea away. Ricciardo has reached land and sees the abduction but cannot prevent it. Monte Nero therefore anchors the episode’s change of setting and fortune: the stay at the country estate gives way to an excursion on the water, where Ricciardo loses the wife he had brought there.