Caterina Sforza

Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian <a href="/facts/Nobility/WLPIA8GT">noblewoman</a>, the <a href="/facts/Count/kSkKcsK1">Countess</a> of <a href="/facts/Forl%25C3%25AC/surQJCLx">Forlì</a> and Lady of <a href="/facts/Imola/B1KTCrVU">Imola</a>, firstly with her husband <a href="/facts/Girolamo_Riario/n8PxoMbR">Girolamo Riario</a>, and after his death as a regent of her son <a href="/facts/Ottaviano_Riario/5nPvBgUn">Ottaviano</a>.
The descendant of a dynasty of noted <a href="/facts/Condottieri/Ls3jaY4H">condottieri</a>, from an early age, Caterina distinguished herself through her bold and impetuous actions taken to safeguard her possessions from possible usurpers and to defend her dominions from attack, when they were involved in political intrigues. In her private life, Caterina was devoted to various activities, including experiments in <a href="/facts/Alchemy/CEx0U1Em">alchemy</a> and a love of <a href="/facts/Hunting/z1XhJdB2">hunting</a>, dancing, and horse riding. She was educated and engaged in religious rituals and matters, commissioned works of art, stood as a fashion icon, and was a collector of many jewels and clothing. In addition, she undertook urban, residential, and military architectural projects.
While her role as a ruler was considered to be masculine, Caterina had series of portrait medals that embodied her diplomatic skills and political power as a successful regent. At the time, portrait medals were important among the noble society and could be distributed and exchanged as a way to communicate self-presentation, characteristic, and accomplishments of that person. Caterina's first medal represented her beauty, womanly virtue, and conformity to the female role as a noble wife and mother. When Girolamo died, Caterina's next medal represented loyalty and protection of her family with her new position as a chaste widow. While it was feminine, it was also clearly masculine because it represented her additional powerful position as a regent.
She had many children, but only the youngest, Captain <a href="/facts/Giovanni_delle_Bande_Nere/QFc5ShFh">Giovanni delle Bande Nere</a>, inherited his mother's forceful, militant personality. Caterina's resistance to <a href="/facts/Cesare_Borgia/oc7Yu77I">Cesare Borgia</a> meant she had to face his fury and imprisonment. After she gained her freedom in <a href="/facts/Rome/bh1Ttx3T">Rome</a>, she then went on to lead a quiet life in Florence. In the final years of her life, she confided to a monk: "Se io potessi scrivere tutto, farei stupire il mondo" ("If I could write everything that happened, I would shock the world").
A 2023 study brings to the forefront and supports the so far little-followed hypothesis of its allegorical representation in the form of the <a href="/facts/Lady_with_an_Ermine/JaHQoWrg">Lady with an Ermine</a> painted by <a href="/facts/Leonardo_da_Vinci/E83tcPl2">Leonardo da Vinci</a>.

Caterina Sforza open-in-new

Caterina Sforza