Lucrezia Borgia

"... Isabella d'Este's agent reported to her that Lucrezia [Borgia] was "full of charm and grace", and one of Isabella's ladies-in-waiting, too, grudgingly admitted that if Lucrezia "is not noticeably beautiful, she stands out thanks to the sweetness of her expression." A chronicler in Ferrara reported, "She is full of tact, prudent, intelligent, animated, pleasing, very amiable ... Her quick mind makes her eyes sparkle." (in: Sharon L. Jansen, The Monstrous Regiment of Women – Female Rulers in early modern Europe, New York and Hampshire 2002, p. 165)