Maria Stuarda in a white wedding dress On April 24, 1558 Maria Stuarda (1542-1587) married the Dauphin of France , then king with the name of Francis II , wearing a dress that caused an immediate sensation for a reason that appears rather bizarre to our eyes:she was white. In fact, befor
Apothecary. At these ancient pharmacies, poison was also sold under the counter, otherwise there was a dagger Renaissance aristocrats remained famous for the ease with which they got rid of their enemies, but how did they kill? The favorite weapons were essentially two:the dagger and poison,
Self-portrait of Raphael Looking at his portrait of a young man with an angelic and delicate face, it seems difficult to imagine him as a fiery and libertine lover, yet Raffaello Sanzio (1483-1520), according to the words of Giorgio Vasari , he was very loving person fond of women and carnal
Portrait of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571) “First I make her suffer with long, completely naked poses, and then I can call Pagolo a cuckold”. This puzzling phrase, which refers to the perpetration of sexual abuse , is contained in the autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571), one of t
Portrait of Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi, called Caravaggio , died on 18 July 1610 , aged only 39, due to septicemia from Staphylococcus aureus. This is established by careful scientific research conducted on the remains of the great painter, which thus definitively clarifies a myste
Ready-to-eat food for the table. A wealthy Florentine merchant from the Medici era could generally afford very expensive food If we had the opportunity to be invited to lunch by a 16th century Florentine bourgeois, the typical social class, at the time, of merchants, we would certainly be face
An ancient image of Florence. In the Medici era, the most famous tavern in the city was that of the Snail The book by Jean-Lucas Dubreton Daily life in Florence at the time of the Medici , constitutes a precious mine of interesting information on the main aspects of Florentine everyday life
Federico II da Montefeltro and his son Guidobaldo in a painting The bodies speak, even after centuries and even if poorly preserved, as evidenced, among other things, by the exhumation of Frederick II of Montefeltro (1422-1482), Duke of Urbino , great patron, skilled politician and courageous
Mary Stuart and her husband Lord Darnley The Queen of France and Scotland Maria Stuarda (1542-1587) was an intelligent and passionate woman, but not exactly a model mother. Why? Probably by nature, or for other reasons that it will be impossible to discover. What is certain is that the sov
Maria Stuarda. It seems that the height of the queen touched six feet Maria Stuarda, unfortunate queen of France and Scotland (https://www.pilloledistoria.it/3839/storia-moderna/piatura-storia-maria-stuarda-patibolo), as well as intelligent, cultured and passionate, she was also a very beautiful
Portrait of Catherine II of Russia, known as “the Great” Catherine II of Russia (1729-1796) is almost unanimously considered one of the greatest examples of enlightened despotism, so skilled in politics that he went down in history as “the Great” (see also https://www.pilloledistoria.it/90
Catherine the Great on horseback Catherine II of Russia , politically skilled enough to be remembered as “the Great” , She died suddenly at the age of 67 while, in her own rooms, she was intent on changing clothes, almost certainly suffering from stroke. The news of the death of the Em
Portrait of Catherine the Great On the death of Catherine of Russia , called l a Great , uncontrolled gossip immediately circulated between the obscene and the laughable (https://www.pilloledistoria.it/10610/storia-moderna/caterina-la-grande-un-pettegolezzo-a-luci-rosse-sulla-sua- death)
Portrait of the Empress of Austria Maria Theresa The great empress of Austria Maria Theresa (1717-1780) had by her beloved husband Francesco Stefano di Lorena she had 16 children and, unlike what usually happened at the time in families of such a high lineage, she took care of their upbringin
Portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria Skilled politician, intelligent and upright woman in private and public life, Maria Theresa of Habsburg (1717-1780), Empress of Austria, wife of Francis Stephen of Lorraine and a loving mother of as many as 16 children , including Marie Antoinette of Fra
Louis XVI in a film. The kings day was divided between commitments and passions How Louis XVI spent his day ? Among a thousand commitments of course, but without neglecting their passions, which were many. First of all, forget the type of despot and authoritarian monarch always ready to comm
Portrait of Henry III. The king wears a pair of pearl earrings, his great passion On the complex personality of Henry III (1551-1589), king of France son of Henry II and of Caterina de ’Medici , as well as the last member of the Valois dynasty to have ascended to the throne, he has bee
“Lady who discovers her breasts” (1570) by the Venetian painter Jacopo Robusti (or Combin) known as Tintoretto. The lady portrayed should be Veronica Franco Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was the prostitute more famous and influential than Venice sixteenth century. In fact, this woman who was
W.A.Mozart sick in bed assisted by his wife Costanza We will probably never know what the great musician W. A. Mozart, but we will never stop asking ourselves. The only certain thing is that in December 1791, at the age of 35, the artist died for a mysterious cause on which at least 140 diff
Madame de Pompadour and her brother. The frigid woman tried a cure with an aphrodisiac diet Jeanne Antoinette Poisson (1721-1764), more famous as Madame de Pompadour , was for many years the maitresse en titre , or the lover in charge, of the king of France Louis XV . However, unlike w
For years, the persecution of homosexuals by the Nazi regime has been no secret. However, only now has the Polish historian counted how many men were deported to the largest death factory in Nazi Germany just because they were gay. Bohdan Piętka in his article Prisoners with a pink triangle in K
Edward Śmigły-Rydz could not boast of any special successes as the Polish commander-in-chief in the September campaign. He was much better at ... hiding treasures. And dozens of treasure trucks! A peculiar collection of documents can be found in the archives of the General Sikorski Institute an
Actress Natalie Dormer plays Anna Bolena in the television drama The Tudors Anna Bolena she is one of the female figures who have most marked the modern history of England and Europe; of her from her scandalous liason with Henry VIII originated the religious schism that led to the birth of t
Bartenders often have good stories to tell. In 1874, the owner of a tavern in San Francisco claimed that the US Senate had not approved his appointment as Brigadier General because no one could pronounce his name. His name was Włodzimierz Krzyżanowski. The story is most likely true, which is not t