I SEGRETI DEI GONZAGA

The story of Vincenzo Gonzaga, ruler of Mantua, in the last quarter of the XVI century.

A dramatic parable about power, rooted in politics and set within the Mantuan court and its sumptuous world. It's divided in three parts: Il duca nel labirinto, on Vincenzo I of Gonzaga; Isabella fra i Gonzaga, on Marquise Isabella d'Este; Ritratto di famiglia, inspired by Mantegna's frescoes in the bridal chamber in Mantua. Maria Bellonci (1902-1986) was a complex and refined author, whose talent as a storyteller is always intertwined with her historical skills, Maria Bellonci was an Italian novelist, journalist and translator (Stendhal, Zola) and the founder of Italy's most prestigious literary award, the Strega Prize. Her works, such as Lucrezia Borgia and Rinascimento privato, were always based on extensive and detailed research and have been praised for the psychological characterization and their vivid reconstructions, like in Hilary Mantel's novels, which provide the audience with a comprehensive account of History, stripped of the legends of the past. She always nurtured an interest in women's destinies, and in particular in women's right to intellectual affirmation, and her novels focus on the great families of the Renaissance: the Borgias, the Este, the Gonzagas, and the Sforzas.