TheInstitute for Renaissance Studies concludes its 2025 events calendar with an extraordinarily important event, organized in collaboration with the FerrariaeDecus Association and the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at eCampus University . FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, at 9 p.m., the documentary THE PAPA’S DAUGHTER, LUCREZIA BORGIA (2024, Italy-Germany, 52 min) will be presented as an exclusive Italian premiere at the Sala Estense (Piazzetta Municipale 14). The screening will be presented by director Cuini Amelio Ortiz.
FREE admission while seats last.
THE DOCUMENTARY
The extraordinary story of the pope’s daughter Lucrezia Borgia takes place during one of the most scandalous phases of the Renaissance. Under the scheming rule of her father, Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia is deliberately used by him and her brother for political ends, and later is vilified as an incestuous poisoner and femme fatale. The real Lucrezia, however, is of interest to few. It is the incredible but true story of the daughter of a pope surrounded by scandals, with whom the papacy reached one of the lowest points in its history. The image of Lucrezia Borgia is bad for many: she is described as an unbridled sinner, lover of her father and brothers, and poisoner, endowed with extraordinary beauty. The imagination of her enemies has no limits: it is said that she wore a poisoned ring to quickly eliminate her enemies. However, the rumors that make Lucretia a demonic femme fatale do not correspond to the truth. It was the political opponents of her father, Pope Alexander VI, who spread such slanders, with the clear aim of damaging the Borgia family. And they chose the most vulnerable victim: a woman. Lucrezia lived in one of the most adventurous and fascinating eras of the Renaissance. The rule of her father, Rodrigo Borgia, aka Pope Alexander VI, represents one of the most spectacular phases of Church history. Rodrigo was a pope who used his role solely to increase his family’s power. He gave Lucrezia in marriage according to political expediency, annulled her first marriage and approved the murder of her second husband. Only in her third marriage, away from her father, did Lucrezia show, as duchess of Ferrara, her full worth. When she died at age 39, her husband was inconsolable. He had lost a woman who-as he wrote to his brother-was hardly imaginable more beautiful, more intelligent, more cultured, and more virtuous.
The Pope’s daughter, Lucrezia Borgia
Screenplay and direction: Cuini Amelio Ortiz
Camera/Images IA: André Götzmann
Sound: Mathias Onke
Editing: Damiano Stizza
Executive Producer: Ira Beetz
Producer: Frank Schmuck – DOKFILM
Editorial Manager: Peter Allenbacher
ZDF/ARTE 2024