Oil paint on canvas
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Chantrey Bequest
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/frank-cadogan-cowper-950" aria-label="More by Frank Cadogan Cowper" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Frank Cadogan Cowper</a>
Lucretia Borgia Reigns in Vatican in Absence Pope Alexander VI
Presented by the Trustees of the Chantrey Bequest 1914
adults
audience
Borgia, Lucretia
cardinal
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
fine art and design, named works
friar / monk
groups
history
Italy
Leo X, Pope
Lucretia Borgia, Vatican rule, 1501
man
Medici, Giovanni de, Cardinal
named individuals
objects
people
Pinturrichio, mural
places
religious
religious
Rome, Vatican
woman
work and occupations
<p>This is a re-creation of an obscure and scandalous incident from the history of the Popes. In 1501 the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia Borgia, took his place at a meeting. Frank Cowper has invented this suggestive moment in which two noblemen part Lucrezia’s dress so that a Francisan friar can kiss her shoe.The room in the Vatican in which Lucrezia Borgia appeared still exists. It was decorated by the Italian Renaissance artist Pinturrichio. Cowper went there to copy it and painted the faces of the Cardinals from their original portraits.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2007</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
8 August 2005 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
8 August 2005 – 4 October 2010
2010-10-04
2005-08-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2005-08-08
Victorian Spectacle
Collection based display
1 February 2026 – 30 June 2026
2026-06-30
1 February 2026 – 30 June 2026
2026-06-30
2026-02-01
Kunsthalle der Hypo-Kulturstiftung (Munich, Germany)
2026-02-01
THE POWER OF WOMEN. Artistic Imagination from Antiquity to the Present
Loan-out
Lucretia Borgia Reigns in the Vatican in the Absence of Pope Alexander VI
support: 2210 × 1537 mm

Presented by the Trustees of the <a href="/search?gid=999999977" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Chantrey Bequest</a> 1914
<p>This is a re-creation of an obscure and scandalous incident from the history of the Popes. In 1501 the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI, Lucrezia Borgia, took his place at a meeting. Frank Cowper has invented this suggestive moment in which two noblemen part Lucrezia’s dress so that a Francisan friar can kiss her shoe.The room in the Vatican in which Lucrezia Borgia appeared still exists. It was decorated by the Italian Renaissance artist Pinturrichio. Cowper went there to copy it and painted the faces of the Cardinals from their original portraits.</p>

Display caption
2007-07-10T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>N02973</b> LUCRETIA BORGIA REIGNS IN THE VATICAN IN THE ABSENCE OF POPE ALEXANDER VI
<br/><i>c.</i> 1908–14
<br/> 
<br/>Not inscribed.
<br/>Canvas backed with wood, 87×60 1/2 (221×154).
<br/>Chantrey Purchase from the artist 1914.
<br/><i>Exh:</i> R.A., 1914 (103).</p>
<p>The picture was begun in Rome in the Borgia Apartments of the Vatican. These had been occupied by Cardinal Merry del Val, the Papal Secretary of State, and were not open to the public, but had been vacated just before the artist first came to Rome in 1908, so he was able to paint there. The rooms were decorated by Pinturicchio and the frescoes of the Annunication and the Nativity appear on either side of the throne. The subject was suggested by the Diary of John Burchard, Bishop of Orta, Papal Master of the Ceremonies, 27 July 1501, and the following quotation was printed in the R.A. catalogue: ‘Before his Holiness, our Master, left the city, he turned over the palace and all business affairs to his daughter Lucrezia, giving her full power to open all letters which arrive.’</p>
<p>The Cardinals around Lucrezia were painted from contemporary <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a>: the one writing on the right is Cardinal Giovanni de Medici, afterwards Leo X, the one on the left holding back her robe is Cardinal Farnese, afterwards Paul III, and the one standing on the right is the Cardinal of Lisbon who had to advise Lucrezia on her official duties. (Letters from the artist 18 and 23 January 1956).</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Mary Chamot, Dennis Farr and Martin Butlin, <i>The Modern British Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture</i>, London 1964, I</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults audience Borgia, Lucretia cardinal cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents fine art and design, named works friar / monk groups history Italy Leo X, Pope Lucretia Borgia, Vatican rule, 1501 man Medici, Giovanni de, Cardinal named individuals objects people Pinturrichio, mural places religious religious Rome, Vatican woman work and occupations