Portrait of Lorenza Feliciani, wife of Cagliostro
The Count of Cagliostro is one of the most controversial characters in history:despite the many words spoken and written about him, much of his life and his figure still remain a mystery not too easy to solve, so much so that historians are undecided about which is the best way to consider it and define it among swindler, magician, forger or self-styled healer.
I'll come back to Cagliostro with specific posts dedicated to him, while here I intend to provide some brief information on the woman who was his wife, Mrs. Lorenza Feliciani , by her husband renamed countess Serafina, she too, like her spouse, a discussed character and anything but precisely outlined.
Lorenza was born in Rome on April 8, 1751 into a poor family, in which the head of the family earned his living as a brass maker.
Blonde, slender and graceful, although not beautiful, ignorant to the point of not knowing how to read or write, the girl on the other hand excelled in cunning devoted to venal conquests, as in many other commoners.
Lorenza started prostituting herself from a very young age, so much so that the first meeting between her and Cagliostro seems to have taken place in a brothel.
Portrait of Cagliostro
Her marriage, with the indispensable consent of her parents, was celebrated in the church of San Salvatore in Campo on April 8, 1768.
The union between the two was always troubled, a perfect mix of complicity, mutual betrayals and denunciations, of passion and hostility.
It seems that Lorenza was still completely subjugated by the ambiguous and mysterious charm of her consort, who reciprocated yes, but at the same time did not hesitate to sell her favors if this could be convenient for him.
Yet it was Serafina herself one of the main causes of the inglorious end of the "magician", since she did not hesitate to testify against him in the trial that sentenced him to life imprisonment (the reasons are unclear, but it is thought that the woman was instigated by family of origin or corrupted by the papal police).
After being locked up for a long time by her family in a convent, Lorenza died of a heart attack on May 11, 1810.
It is not known where she was buried.