Isabella d'Este

Isabella d'Este painted by Titian.

Isabella d'Este (18 May 1474 - 13 February 1539, death at 65 years old) was marchesa of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance and a major cultural and political figure.

Family

Born in Ferrara, she was the first daughter of Ercole I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, and Leonora of Naples, daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples, the Aragonese King of Naples, and Isabella of Taranto.

At the age of 16 she was married to Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. Her younger sister was the equally famous Beatrice d'Este, Duchess of Milan as consort to Ludovico Sforza. She was related by birth or marriage to almost every ruler in Italy and is known as "The First Lady of The Renaissance".

Biography

Drawing for an intended portrait of Isabella by Leonardo (Musée du Louvre).

Education and early life

Isabella d'Este was well-educated in her youth in Ferrara, as her voluminous correspondence reveals. The Este sisters were exposed to many of the new Renaissance ideas: later Isabella became a passionate, even greedy collector of Roman sculpture and commissioned modern sculptures in the antique style. It is also common knowledge, at least among collectors of coins and numismatists, that she was an avid collector of ancient coins.
After her marriage to Francesco Gonzaga, she lived in Mantua. They were Ariosto's patrons while he was writing Orlando Furioso and both she and her husband were greatly influenced by Baldassare Castiglione, author of Il Cortigiano ('The Courtier') a model for aristocratic decorum for two hundred years, and it was at his suggestion that Giulio Romano was summoned to Mantua to enlarge the Castello and other buildings.
Under her auspices the court of Mantua became one of the most cultured in Europe. Among the other important artists, writers, thinkers, and musicians being drawn to it were Raphael, Andrea Mantegna, and the composers Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara. Her court sculptor was Pier Jacopo Alari Bonacolsi, who re-interpreted works of antiquity in small finely-finished and often partly gilded bronzes that earned him the nickname "L'Antico". She was painted twice by Titian, while a portrait drawing by Leonardo da Vinci is at the Louvre. A keen musician, she considered stringed instruments, such as the lute, superior to winds, which were associated with vice and strife; she also considered poetry incomplete until it was set to music, and sought the most skilled composers of the day to complete the task.

Later life

After the death of her husband, Isabella ruled Mantua as regent for her son, Frederick. She began to play an important role in Italian politics, steadily advancing Mantua's position. Her many important accomplishments include advancing Mantua to a Duchy and also obtaining a cardinalate for her younger son. She also showed great diplomatic and political skill in her negotiations with Cesare Borgia, who had dispossessed Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, the husband of her sister-in-law and intimate friend Elisabetta Gonzaga (1502).

In media

The Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi, by Jacqueline Park

May 18 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

1152 - Henry II marries Eleanor of Aquitaine.

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14th century - 15th century - 16th century
1440s 1450s 1460s - 1470s - 1480s 1490s 1500s
1471 1472 1473 - 1474 - 1475 1476 1477

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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February 13 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

Events

1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed.

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15th century - 16th century - 17th century
1500s 1510s 1520s - 1530s - 1540s 1550s 1560s
1536 1537 1538 - 1539 - 1540 1541 1542

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Subjects: Archaeology - Architecture -
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Anthem
Il Canto degli Italiani
(also known as Fratelli d'Italia)

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Renaissance (French for "rebirth"; Italian: Rinascimento; Spanish: Renacimiento), was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe.
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Country Italy
Region Emilia-Romagna
Province Ferrara (FE)
Mayor Gaetano Sateriale (since June 13, 2004)

Area km
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)
- Density /km

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Ercole I d'Este (October 26, 1431 – june 15, 1505) was Duke of Ferrara from 1471 until 1505. He was a member of the house of Este. He was nicknamed North Wind and the Diamond.
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Leonora of Naples or Eleonora of Aragon (June 22, 1450 – October 11, 1493) was the first Duchess of Ferrara.

Daughter of Ferdinand I of Naples and Isabella of Taranto , she was firstly consort of Massimiliano Sforza, Duke of Bari.
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Ferdinand I (June 2 1423 – January 25, 1494), also called Don Ferrante, was the King of Naples from 1458 to 1494.

He was the natural son of Alfonso V of Aragon and I of Sicily and Naples.
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Isabella di Taranto, born Isabella de Clermont, (c. 1424 – 30 March, 1465), was a Princess of Taranto in her own right and first Queen consort of Ferdinand I of Naples.
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Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 august, 1466 – march 29, 1519) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death.

Biography

He was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga.
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Country Italy
Region Lombardy
Province Mantua (MN)
Mayor Fiorenza Brioni (since April 18, 2005)

Area km
Population
- Total (as of December 31, 2004)
- Density /km

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Beatrice d'Este (June 29 1475 – January 2 1497), duchess of Milan, one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the Italian Renaissance, was the daughter of Ercole I. d'Este and younger sister of Isabella d'Este and Alfonso d'Este.
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MILAN (French: Missile d´infanterie léger antichar = Anti-Tank Light Infantry Missile) is a European anti-tank guided missile. Design of the MILAN started in 1962. It was ready for trials in 1971, and was accepted for service in 1972.
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Ludovico Sforza Duke of Milan (Ludovico il Moro, "The Moor") (July 27, 1452 – May 27, 1508), a member of the Sforza dynasty of Milan, Italy, was the second son of Francesco Sforza, and was famed as patron of Leonardo da Vinci and other artists.
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House of Este is a European princely dynasty. It is split into two branches: the elder branch is known as the House of Welf-Este or House of Welf, and the younger branch as the House of Fulc-Este or later simply as the House of Este.
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Francesco II (or IV) Gonzaga (10 august, 1466 – march 29, 1519) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1484 until his death.

Biography

He was born in Mantua, the son of Marquess Federico I Gonzaga.
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Ludovico Ariosto (September 8, 1474 – July 6, 1533) was an Italian poet, most noted as the author of the epic poem Orlando furioso (1516), "Orlando Enraged."

Birth and Early Life

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Orlando furioso ("The Frenzy of Orlando") is an Italian romantic epic by Ludovico Ariosto which has exerted a wide influence on later culture. The earliest version appeared in 1516, although the poem was not published in its complete form until 1532.
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Baldassare Castiglione, count of Novellata (December 6, 1478 – February 2, 1529), was a courtier, diplomat and a very prominent Renaissance author.^[1]
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The Book of the Courtier (Italian: Il Cortegiano) was written by Baltissare Castiglione over the course of many years beginning in 1508 and published in 1528 just before he died.
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Giulio Romano (c. 1499? – November 1, 1546) was an Italian painter and architect. A prominent pupil of Raphael, his stylistic deviations from high Renaissance classicism help define the 16th century style known as Mannerism.
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Andrea Mantegna (c. 1431 – September 13, 1506) was an Italian Renaissance artist. A serious student of Roman archaeology and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini. Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective as he thought best, e.g.
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Bartolomeo Tromboncino (c. 1470 – 1535 or later) was an Italian composer of the middle Renaissance. He is mainly famous as a composer of frottola; he is principally infamous for murdering his wife. He was born in Verona and died in or near Venice.
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Marchetto Cara (c. 1470 – probably 1525) was an Italian composer, lutenist and singer of the Renaissance. He was mainly active in Mantua, was well-connected with the Gonzaga and Medici families, and along with Bartolomeo Tromboncino, was well known as a composer of frottolas.
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Family

Biography

Education and early life

Later life

See also

In media

Events

Events

Biography

Biography

Birth and Early Life