LUCREZIA BORGIA REVEALED

280 letters written by Lucrezia Borgia, the Dark Lady of the Renaissance, are now available for consultation on digital file from the State Archive of Modena (Reggio Emilia). The State Archive, which is in possession of Lucrezia's correspondence during the period when she was Duchess of Ferrara, commissioned the F. C. Panini Publishers Haltadefinizione company to examine, research, upload and publish the letters which shed new light on the figure of one of history's most enigmatic figures.

For almost five centuries she has been depicted as either a depraved femme fatale, or else the helpless victim of the political machinations of her father, Pope Alessandro VI Borgia. Her correspondence instead depicts another reality. Lucrezia was in fact an able administrator of the estates left by her third husband, a lover of the arts and a far-sighted and compassionate ruler.

The download was commissioned by the State Archive and financed by the Modena Foundation and the Italian Ministry of Culture's Art Bonus, a tax bonus scheme introduced in 2015. Research work included the examination and analysis of the type of paper used by Lucrezia.

The State Archive of Modena is the oldest archive in Italy, dating to 1862. Situated inside Modena Town Hall, it contains a huge collection of rare manuscripts and documents, including a vast musicians archive, the Secret Archive of the Este Family dynasty and a parchment signed by Charlemagne in 781.AD

The Haltadefinizione company specializes in the scrupulous digitalization of works of art in very high definition. Their achievements include Leonardo da Vinci's “Last Supper” and the 700 sqm cycle of frescoes by Giotto in the Scrovegni Chapel in Padua.

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Info: State Archive Modena: Tel. +39.059.230549 www.laguidadimodena.it www.haltadefinizione.com