#119 Tigress of Forlì ~ The Life of Caterina Sforza: A Conversation with Elizabeth Lev

Saturday, March 21st Live on Zoom

10am Los Angeles / 1pm New York / 6pm London / 7pm Florence

Professor Elizabeth Lev will discuss the astonishing life of Caterina Riario Sforza (1463 –1509), one of the most prominent women of Renaissance Italy, who was a wife, mother, leader, and warrior, fierce enough to make Machiavelli himself wince.  In her biography, Elizabeth Lev examines Caterina's extraordinary life and accomplishments. Raised in the court of Milan and wed at the age of ten to Pope Sixtus IV’s corrupt nephew, Caterina was ensnared in Italy’s political intrigues early in life. After turbulent years in Rome’s Papal court, she moved to Forlì Italy’s northern Emilia-Romagna region. Following her husband’s assassination, Caterina ruled Italy’s crossroads with an iron will, martial strength, political savvy, and an icon’s fashion sense.  In finally losing her lands to the Borgia family, she put up a resistance that inspired all of Europe and set the stage for her progeny—including Cosimo de Medici—to follow her example to greatness.  Lev’s book The Tigress of Forlì is a rich evocation of the Renaissance, telling the complex and extraordinary story of Caterina Sforza – a brilliant and fearless ruler who was a tragic but unbowed figure.

Elizabeth Lev, who lives in Rome, is an American art historian with degrees from the University of Chicago and University of Bologna. She has been working as a guide in Rome for over 20 years and teaches at Duquesne University’s Italian campus as well as the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. She has served as a commissioner of the Tourism Board of Rome and is a didactic consultant for the Vatican Museums. Liz is also the author of four books and has taught and lectured in numerous venues in Europe, the U.S., Singapore, and Australia, including an address she gave at the United Nations in New York.

To RSVP: Paola50122@gmail.com

Minimum suggested donation: $28

This talk is free for Friends of Paola's Studiolo!

Look forward to seeing you on Zoom!