The costumes

The habits worn by the performers are modelled in part on the habit worn by Elena Anguissola in the portrait of her by her sister, Sophonisba, dating from around 1550 - the painting now belongs to Southampton City Art Gallery. Invaluable information for the costuming of Lucrezia and Camilla came from the many websites and publications created by members of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Camilla's camicia is copied - very roughly - from one in the V&A, courtesy of the detailed instructions on the Realm of Venus site.

Many thanks to The Hemp Store, Cambridge, for donating the clothing worn by Man.

The cake

It is thought that at some time during the fifteenth century, just before the era of Lucrezia Borgia, the nuns of Corpus Domini devised a sweetmeat called pampepato, which has been translated as both "Pope's bread" (pane del Pape) or "peppered bread" (pane peppato). The cake is rich with citrus peel, almonds and cocoa, and is flavoured with spices and black pepper - for a recipe, click here. We like to serve pampepato to the audience after performances of Fallen.

In Ferrara, pampepato is now the traditional Christmas cake, baked in small rounds and covered in a thick layer of dark chocolate. Apparently the chocolate was a nineteenth-century addition, so Lucrezia and Camilla would have enjoyed theirs without. Ours are always smothered in the best dark chocolate we can find. We respect the need for authenticity in performance, but there are limits.