I went to Rome to look for Lucrezia Borgia and met her ghost at the Vatican in the Sala dei Sibilli.
Lucrezia's blue eyes, framed by blonde ringlets, gaze down, in the guise of multiple Sybils, from every wall of this room in the Vatican's Borgia Tower.
I was looking for Lucrezia (1480-1519) because I'm writing a book.
A Renaissance beauty with golden hair, a brilliant mind and a truly appalling family, Lucrezia was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia, one of the most reviled Popes in history, synonymous with poison, corruption and even a hint of incest.
Lucrezia has been tarred, almost certainly wrongly, with the same brush.
I've been commissioned to
