Image: La dama dei gelsomini, by Lorenzo di Credi (Pinacoteca Civica di Forlì), presumed portrait of Caterina Sforza
Caterina Sforza was a powerful force to be contended with in Renaissance Italy. She has been called a Renaissance virago (woman who fights like a man), a lioness, tigress, and a warrior woman. One of her more flamboyant acts of defiance was even made famous by Machiavelli. Driven and powerful, Caterina Sforza sometimes took her actions too far, and for that she has also been recognized by many as a tyrant. There was, however, a softer side to Caterina Sforza which became obvious in her personal life. Read on
܀ history meme ܀ nine women:Caterina Sforza {1463 – 28 May 1509} (3/9)
↠ Countess of Forli. The “Tigress” of Forli.
Caterina Sforza, a woman that headlines 15th century Italy, was the half-sister of Anna Sforza and niece of Ludovico and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. She comes across as a woman who stood out from her peers as a female warrior, the Viragro, as she was known. On the one hand, she was a diplomat and great patron of the arts and much like her uncle, Ludovico, she shared his interests in cultivating around herself a fine court of artists and intellectuals. On the other, she also took after her uncle as a warring despot with the ability to carry out a vicious vengeance against those who sought to harm her and her family. The combination of these two sides demonstrates her as a true embodiment of the age that was the Italian Renaissance.
