Maidens in Distress

One of the fresco cycles in the Cappella Palatina in the Castel Nuovo in Naples depicts scenes from the life of William of Gellone, by the painter Niccolo di Tommaso (1346-76). This detail is from a scene where William, a hero of the Carolingian period (he was a cousin of Charlemagne) defeats a giant Moorish soldier. I’m presuming, like Perseus and St George, he also frees a maiden; though in this case there appears to be three of them. Though the middle one doesn’t look that maiden-like. All three kidnapped, no doubt, by the marauding Moorish warrior.