❤️ Giulia Farnese: the Woman Who Loved Two Dynasties

Between Viterbo, Rome, and Capodimonte – beauty, power, and a divided heart

Giulia Farnese was not just a beautiful woman. She was a force of nature, capable of stirring papal courts and altering the destiny of great families. Born in Canino in 1474 and raised in the heart of Tuscia, Giulia moved between Viterbo, Capodimonte, and Rome like an unknowing muse of a restless Renaissance—torn between two dynasties that changed history: the Borgias and the Farnese.

🌹 The Face That Captivated a Pope

They called her “la bella Giulia”, and rightly so. Contemporary portraits show her with flowing golden hair, a determined gaze, and a grace that defied social convention. Married young to Orsino Orsini, the marriage was more for appearance than love. In Rome, she caught the fiery eye of Rodrigo Borgia, the future Pope Alexander VI.

Their affair was scandalous and passionate, yet Giulia embraced it fearlessly. It is said that she whispered political advice to the Pope between caresses and inked letters. Her charm was not just in her beauty—it was in her intelligence, boldness, and keen intuition.

🏛️ The Rise of Her Family

Through that controversial love, Giulia’s family—the Farnese—experienced an unprecedented rise. Her brother, Alessandro Farnese, known as the little cardinal, was appointed cardinal by Alexander VI. A few years later, he would become Pope Paul III, a key figure in the Council of Trent and a great patron of the arts.

Giulia became the bridge between two worlds, between the carnal love of the Borgias and the political ascent of the Farnese. A modern woman ahead of her time, she navigated desire and diplomacy, passion and strategy.

💌 A Letter Never Found

A legend says that before her death, Giulia wrote a love letter to no one, a poetic confession where she revealed the sorrow of a divided heart. “I loved two men, two dynasties, two destinies. And I do not know which one was truly mine.”

The letter was never found, but some claim to have seen it in the library of Capodimonte, hidden between the margins of an illuminated manuscript. Others say it was burned, to preserve the memory of the popes.

👑 And Today?

In the heart of Tuscia, among the halls of Palazzo Farnese and the ruins of her family’s castles, the echo of her name still lingers. Giulia Farnese was not just a pope’s lover. She was the eternal symbol of a powerful, tender, and dangerously free femininity.