Dr. Deanna Shemek, Deanna, as she invited us to call her, shared with us her journey from growing up in Lincoln, Nebraska to becoming an Italian scholar, now teaching at the University of California-Irvine. Dreams of an Italian life with her high school best friend, along with an undergraduate instructor who encouraged her to apply for an enchanting year at the University of Bologna as a study abroad student. This experience inspired her to apply to graduate school and pursue her PhD in Italian Studies, and her dream career that requires her to speak Italian and visit Italy. Deanna starts our discussion by telling us about the Italian Renaissance courts, the setting of Maggie O’Farrell’s The Marriage Portrait. Women in the northern Italian courts had much greater freedom than those in other Italian courts, and in many cases, co-ruled with their husbands. The Florentine court kept women much more isolated, living lives inside their castles. Deanna tells us Ferrara was a hotbed of Protestantism. Noble women were absolutely expected, first and foremost, to bear children to continue dynasties, as was expected of Lucrezia. However, noblewomen often were ill-educated when it came to sex. Men lived fairly free sexual lives, and unfortunately many had syphilis, also meaning their wives doubly avoided sex with their husbands. Deanna tells us that portraitures of betrothed couples were tokens of promise and affection. Emissaries were also sent to get a look at the spouse-to-be. Deanna notes that the painting Alfonso has made of Lucrezia, therefore, is not a “real” marriage portrait, since they were married by the time this portrait is painted of her. There was a fascination of portraiture to capture the soul of an individual, too. Often portraits were returned to the artist with directions for adjustments. Deanna mentions the book refers to Lucrezia having a telescope among her belongings, but that technology had not yet been invented! Deanna also notes she has never encountered a letter from that time period where the subjects were addressed so informally. Most letters were dictated to a secretary and most letters were written with the knowledge that others would likely see them, so the tend to be formal and guarded, or written in cipher. The only letters Deanna has read that are informal are those among ladies in waiting or from ladies in waiting to a young prince. Deanna tells us there is historical precedence for powerful men having their wives killed, as well as others, such as brothers who may threaten a ruler. The Borgias, of course, were famous for their plots and murders. Maiming was also common through methods such as gouging eyes out and chopping hands off. Deanna tells us about the wars within Italian states as well as with foreign powers. This meant that Italian princes were soldier princes who fought for themselves and their political allies. Deanna thought Maggie O’Farrell did a beautiful job rendering the differences between courts in fashions (including fabrics and hairstyles, along with clothes). She also mentioned that Ferrara was famous for its skilled musicians, though Florence also had some famous musicians. Ferrara was very famous for its theatre, too. Deanna doubted that Lucrezia’s entrance into Ferrara would be unheralded, as in The Marriage Portrait. Rather, the arrival of a royal bride would be an enormous event with thousands or tens of thousands in attendance, and with other nobles opening their homes to house all the visitors. Deanna thought Maggie’s description of the castle coming to life, the morning after Lucrezia’s arrival, was breath-taking, as well as descriptions of the countryside, and what it was like to sit for a portrait. Deanna loved how O’Farrell described palace intrigue, though she doubted Lucrezia would have taken only one maid and no ladies in waiting. Deanna thought the counter-history of the ending was a wonderful thought experiment. She liked O’Farrell’s believable plot, including that Lucrezia becomes a miniature painter, since women, at this time were emerging in that field. Deanna is Director of the Isabella D’Este Archive, IDEA, (https://www.isabelladestearchive.org). Her interest in Isabella D’Este began when she started reading Isabella’s letters. Deanna was interested in thinking about how correspondence worked as a technology for news, as a way of keeping families together, and as a voice of self to project authority. Eventually, Deanna put the correspondence on-line (all 30,000 of them), but then was inspired to develop a virtual recreation of Isabella’s famous collection of art. The collection as been dispersed, with most of Isabella’s paintings in the Louvre. Other objects are found in museums all around the world. Deanna and her colleagues are exploring how to create games and AI to enhance IDEA.