In this episode, ArtMuse collaborates with Art of History, a podcast that explores different historical events and figures through an examination of works of art. Host Amanda Matta releases new episodes every month on wide-ranging topics. Her episodes discuss subjects from women artists and the spirit world, to forgotten princesses of history, and to even the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace, to name a few.

This episode of Art of History explores the life of Lucrezia Borgia, the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, who briefly ruled the Vatican in the Pope’s absence in 1501. Lucrezia, who eventually became the Duchess of Ferrara, lived a fascinating and drama-filled life, and despite the many restrictions on women of her time, was groundbreaking in her ascension to power. She not only briefly ruled the Vatican, but played an active role in the political landscape of Ferrara. We hope to have a full episode of ArtMuse dedicated to Lucrezia Borgia in a future season.

There have been a number of portraits of Lucrezia Borgia made throughout history. Most famously, she is depicted in Pre-Raphaelite painter Frank Cadogan Cowper’s "Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI" painted in 1910 and currently at the Tate in London.

In the words of host Amanda Matta, “How did she gain this rare position of power? And how does Frank Cadogan Cowper’s striking Pre-Raphaelite painting mirror our cultural perception of her? Unravel the myths surrounding Lucrezia Borgia, explore the evolution of women’s roles in the Catholic Church, and examine how history, scandal, and art collide in depicting one of the Renaissance’s most enigmatic women“.