Giovanna di Ferramano Character Analysis

Giovanna di Ferramano is the young wife of Niccolo, who built the Tower of Sacrifice. She died at the age of 18 in the same year the town surrounding the tower was destroyed. Giovanna’s portrait draws Caroline’s attention in a gallery she is visiting with Neville. She is honey-haired and so “radiantly virginal” that Caroline cannot believe she was married. Although Giovanna’s death is mysterious, Neville reports that the portrait’s owner said she was either “lost” or “damned.” Taking into account Niccolo’s involvement in the occult, Giovanna’s death is implied to be the result of her husband’s bad behavior. Neville compares Caroline to Giovanna, foreshadowing her own terrible fate within the tower’s walls.