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3 unusual facts about Duchess Sforza Cesarini


Frederick Rolfe

At this stage he entered the circle of the Duchess Sforza Cesarini, who, he claimed, adopted him as a grandson and gave him the use of the title of "Baron Corvo".

His seminary, the Scots College, was quite close to Plüschow's studio in via Sardegna, just off the via Veneto, and when Rolfe was expelled from the College and came under the benevolent patronage of the Duchess Sforza Cesarini, he began his own photographic efforts in imitation of von Gloeden and Plüschow.

Ratcliffe on the Wreake

Ratcliffe Hall is a Grade II listed country house built circa 1812 by Robert Shirley, 7th Earl Ferrers and was inherited by his granddaughter, Caroline Shirley, Duchess Sforza Cesarini, who had married into the Italian aristocracy.



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