AllMovie

A group of young men hear from a Spanish nobleman named Gubetta about the wonders of the house of Don Alfonso and his wife Lucrezia Borgia, but one of the youths, Orsini, disagrees with the assessment of the notorious Borgia. Another, the orphan Gennaro, wanders away to sleep, and as he sleeps the selfsame Lucrezia Borgia appears and gazes admiringly at him, eventually waking him with a kiss. Gennaro becomes interested in the stranger, but Orsini arrives, recognizes Borgia and tells the appalled Gennaro of her wicked deeds. Borgia escapes, not realizing that the she has all this time been observed by her husband, Alfonso, who suspects her of being unfaithful to him. Later, Gennaro insults the name of Borgia in a public name. He is captured and brought to Alfonso. Lucrezia demands the death of the one who has so insulted her, not knowing it is Gennaro. Alfonso reveals the truth, then insists that his wife choose the manner of death -- by swords or by poison. She chooses the poisoned wine, but slips an antidote to Gennaro after he imbibes the deadly drink and tells him to flee the city. Gennaro does not listen, choosing instead to attend a sumptuous banquet with Orsini and his friends. Lucrezia desires revenge on Orsini and his friends for telling Gennaro all about her; she has told her henchmen to get the group alone in a room and slip them the poisoned wine, not knowing that Gennaro is among them. Discovering her mistake, she begs Gennaro to take the antidote, but when he sees that there is not enough for his friends as well, he refuses -- even after discovering that Lucrezia is his long lost mother.