“A radiant smile, two blonde plaits, a handkerchief hemmed with pearls, a potion of poison”. This is how a reporter of the time described Lucrezia Borgia, one of the most debated and controversial female figures of Renaissance history. Her intriguing figure, whose behaviour was much talked and speculated about – but few facts are actually documented - has inspired tragedies, like the one freely inspired by Victor Hugo, novels, films, rousing curiosity until this day. However, if this enigmatic, cruel and vindictive noblewoman’s true identity  has always aroused the collective imagination, because there were no definite portraits of her, now Lucrezia seems to have a face, revealed by a painting kept in Australia.
A painting that belongs to the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne in the last few days has been identified as a portrait, or rather as the only authentic portrait of Lucrezia Borgia.

A painting owned by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne has been identified as a portrait of Lucrezia Borgia, an infamous figure of the Italian Renaissance.
The oil painting, purchased in 1965, was formerly called Portrait of a Young Man and was thought to be by a Northern Italian painter.
On Tuesday, however, the gallery announced it had discovered the painting was by famed Renaissance artist Dosso Dossi who lived 1486-1542.
Gallery paintings conservator Carl Villis conducted extensive research to reach the conclusion the work was by Dossi.
“If it is accepted for what we believe it to be, then it will be highly-significant because it will be incredibly rare,” he said.
“We believe this to be the only formal painted portrait of Lucrezia Borgia.”
He discovered that Dossi was one of the few Italian painters to create oval portraits and forensic tests revealed an unusual primer unique to the painter.
The curator also discovered that Dossi had painted a group of ovals between 1515 and 1520 in the Este court in Ferrara, where Lucrezia lived. Only a handful of high-born women would have been considered important enough to be painted at the time.(CBC News)

It was 1802 when a young and unfledged Turner arrived in Italy for the first time, after visiting Paris and enjoying the views of the Swiss Alps. From that moment the Bel Paese left an indelible mark in the famous English painter’s artistic career, impressed in his mind and in his representations, as a place of undisputable charm.
Like many artists of his time, even Turner, during his youth, fantasized about the features of a country – with the desire to visit it – known through the myth of a long-lived and deep-rooted cultural tradition. This romantic painter, even before recognizing those features personally, anticipated them by studying them in works based on Italian subjects, realised by ancient and modern masters.

translated by Giorgina Arcuri

Paduan artist Maurizio Cattelan, since the beginning of his howling rise in the contemporary art system, has always managed to make a strong impression, causing the printed media and websites of every type to talk about him constantly. An emblematic case occurred on 6th May 2004, when the city of Milan woke up bewildered to one of his works installed in Piazza XXIV Maggio. Three plastic manikins, representing children hanging from the branch of a large oak tree, provoked a great emotional impact and a huge psychological stir.

Article translated by Amritee Mahabir

His refined and elegant paintings earned him the title of “Ferrarase Raphael”, while his suggestive chromatics bound to peculiar solid forms, defines his unmistakable figurative poetry. The leader of the golden period of the exempt patronage of the arts, Benvenuto Tisi or il Garofalo has the honour of baptising the Ermitage Italian Foundation.