Isabella D Este

Isabella d’Este (Ferrara 1474 – Mantua 1539) was already defined in her lifetime as “The first lady of the world”, and emains today one of the most brilliant characters of the Italian Renaissance. The first-born daughter of Duke Ercole of Ferrara and Eleonora of Aragon, at only six years of age was betrothed to Francesco II Gonzaga, heir of the Lords of Mantua. At sixteen, when she arrived in Mantua, she created one of the most culturally refined courts of the Renaissance. Driven by her insatiable desire for all things of antiquity, she collected in her Studiolo a precious assortment of classical artifacts. Fully aware of her extraordinary virtues, both physical and intellectual, she trusted the most illustrious artist of her time to represent her, and was portrayed by both Leonardo da Vinci and Titian – a privilege ot bestowed upon any king, Pope, or Emperor. A demanding and discerning patron, she entrusted Andrea Mantegna, Lorenzo Costa, Pietro Perugino and Correggio to create a cycle of paintings forher Studiolo. As a refined trend-setter, she formed the fashion of her time according to her own tastes, and became a point of reference not only for all of the Italian courts, but also for aristocrats throughout Europe. From her astrological chart and emblems to her portraits and the canvases created specifically for her Studiolo, this book contains several clear and original perspectives that highlight and better define the profile of Isabella. Here we have a new view of a Renaissance woman.

The marriage of Isabella d'Este, one of the most famous figures of the Italian Renaissance, and Francesco Gonzaga, ruler of the small northern Italian principality of Mantua (r.1484-1519) offers a fascinating portrait of political marriage in the early modern period. A Renaissance Marriage shows an aristocratic couple who, within several years of their wedding, had to deal with the political challenges posed by the first decades of the Italian Wars (1494-1559) and, later, the scourge of the Great Pox, humanising a relationship that was organised for entirely strategic reasons, but had to be inhabited emotionally if it was to produce the political and dynastic advantages that had inspired the match. Carolyn James draws on unpublished correspondence between Isabella and Francesco over twenty-nine years, as well as their correspondence with relatives and courtiers, to show how their personal rapport evolved and how they cooperated in the governance of a princely state. Hitherto examined mainly from literary and religious perspectives, and on the basis of legal evidence and prescriptive literature, early modern marriage emerges here in vivid detail, offering the reader access to aspects of the lived experience of an elite Renaissance marital relationship. The study also contributes to our understanding of the history of emotions, of politics and military conflict, of childbirth, childhood and family life, and of the history of disease and medicine.

In the first book systematically to give evidence of conjugal co-rule at an Italian Renaissance court, and the first full length scholarly study of Isabella d'Este and Francesco Gonzaga, Sarah Cockram shows their relationship in an entirely new light. The book draws on (and presents) a large amount of unpublished archival material, including almost unprecedented surviving correspondence between and around these Renaissance princely rulers. Using these sources, Cockram shows Isabella and Francesco's strategic teamwork in action, illuminating tactics of collaboration and dissimulation. She also reveals behind-the-scenes diplomatic activity; court procedures; sexual politics and seduction; gift-giving and network-building; rivalries, intrigues and assassinations. Several epistolary themes emerge: insights into the couple's communication practices and double-dealing, their use of intermediaries, and attention to security matters. This book's analysis of Isabella's co-rule with her husband, supported by other members of the Gonzaga dynasty, sees her sometimes in the role of subordinate partner, sometimes guiding the couple's actions. It shows how, despite appearances at times, the couple shared common diplomatic policy as well as human, material, and cultural resources; joint administration; and the exercise of authority and justice. Thus emerges a three-dimensional picture of the mechanisms of power and power sharing in the age of Machiavelli.

"Isabella d'Este, Marchioness of Mantua (1474-1539), is one of the most studied figures of Renaissance Italy, as an epitome of Renaissance court culture, and as a woman having an unusually prominent role in the politics of her day. This biography provides a rounded account of the full range of her activities and interests, from her childhood to her final years as a dowager and considers Isabella d'Este not as an icon but as a woman of her time and place in the world"--

The Renaissance studiolo was a space devoted in theory to private reading. The most famous studiolo of all was that of Isabella d'Este, marchioness of Mantua. This work explores the function of the mythological image within a Renaissance culture of collectors.

"Brilliant, vain, generous, calculating, Isabella D'Este played the Renaissance game with an expertise that outflanked Popes and Emperors, using her brains, her charm, and her unswerving purpose to psych her opponents. An accomplished flirt, an astute statesman, she kept Mantua, the state ostensibly ruled by her husband, intact and safe from a series of powerful predators: Cesare Borgia, the Republic of Venice, a succession of Popes, the King of Naples, two Kings of France. Toward the end of her life, she turned over to her son one of the few independent principalities of sixteenth-century Italy"--from front jacket flap.