Hamburg – What can history, literature, and film tell us about the role of women in Rome? This question is at the heart of the conference series “Women and Power in Rome: Cinematic Representations from Messalina to Mamma Roma”, organized by the Italian Cultural Institute of Hamburg.
On June 24, the institute will host a lecture by Francesca Bravi, professor of Italian language, culture, and literature at Kiel University's Institute of Romance Studies. The event will also feature film excerpts and center on Lucrezia Borgia, a prominent figure of the Italian Renaissance. Borgia has inspired writers, artists, and filmmakers over the centuries. She was portrayed in films such as Osvaldo Civirani’s 1968 biopic, Christian-Jaque’s 1953 adaptation, and Antonio Hernández’s 2006 film. Between 2011 and 2014, two international TV series—one Canadian and the other Franco-German—also dramatized the saga of the infamous Italian-Aragonese family.