Although this erotically-charged duet is undoubtedly the most famous moment in Monteverdi's opera, ironically, it may not actually have been written by the great man. The opera remained unfinished on Monteverdi's death in 1643 and the text for this scene does not appear in the published libretto. The words may have been written by composer-librettist Benedetto Ferrari; they appear in the libretto of his 1641 opera Il pastor regio.