Lucrezia Borgia’s other pastime: powerful women and their quest for art.
Lucrezia Borgia confounded her image as murderous and promiscuous by commissioning church buildings and artefacts; Alfonsina Orsini used architecture and sculpture to negotiate for power. Isabella d’Este, Marchioness of Mantova, described herself as “Hungry For Art” and was unscrupulous in building a collection, which was to become one of the wonders of Italy. Who were these women and how did they overcome social constraints and their restricted means to contribute to the glory of the age?
A request for Christmas Lunch tickets can be made to Max Clay after the September lecture.
THE ARTS SOCIETY ACCREDITED LECTURER

Ms Nicole Mezey
Nicole studied Art History at the Universities of Sussex, York and Paris. She was Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University, Belfast until 2009, working primarily with adults, managing and teaching on both the Part-Time degree and Extra-Mural programmes and conducting annual, international study-tours. She also established and was first Director of the Department of Art History, the first in the north of Ireland. Nicole now lives in central London and is a freelance lecturer, working for organisations including the National Museums, universities, the National Trust and private companies. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and of the Higher Education Academy and her publications focus on adult education and the arts.
OTHER EVENTS
'The Grand Tour' - what it entailed and the impact it had on artists and the art that they went on to produce.
‘One man in his time plays many parts’: some of those parts and the scenes not seen.