Everyone at the IDC is talking about Caroline Murphy’s book, The Pope’s Daughter: The Extraordinary Life of Felice Della Rovere.
The book
chronicles the life of Felice, daugher of Pope Julius II who reigned
from 1503-1513. Felice began her life as the illegitimate
daughter of Pope-to-be Giuliano della Rovere and a Roman noblewoman,
Lucrezia Normanni, in 1483. When Felice was 20 years old, her
father was elected to the Papal throne and became Rome’s most powerful
Renaissance Pope and an exemplary patron of art. In his
decade-long reign, he hired Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel
Ceiling, asked Rapahel to paint his private apartments in the Vatican
Palace, and commissioned Bramante to design the new St. Peter’s
Basilica.
Julius was a formidable man, known for his terribilita, and
his daughter Felice inherited much of his political-savvy and
determination. Her Papal father married her to a Roman
noble of the Orsini family, insuring her an aristocratic standing in
Roman society, and she used her status to better her own position
in the world and that of her father. As Pope, her
father regularly called upon her to negotiate diplomatic
agreements about issues that could not properly receive
direct Papal attention. And concern with her family
legacy led Felice to build a financial empire of her own,
making her among the richest and most powerful women on the Italian
peninsula.
Not
suprisingly, Felice moved in the privileged circles of Italian
society, and her biography is a star-studded one, showcasing her
interactions with such individuals as Michelangelo, Isabella d’Este,
Lucrezia Borgia, and Catherine de Medici.
Besides
giving a fascinating account of the life of Felice della Rovere,
Murphy’s book demonstrates the extreme creativity of the period in
which she lived. Surrounded by humanistic invention of every type
- artistic, literary, philosophical, and scientific - Felice took the
task of self-fashioning to new heights, gaining levels of power
and freedom that were extraordinary for a Renaissance woman.
Order The Pope’s Daughter from Powell’s
Oxford University Press, 2005, ISBN 0195182685