Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna

The granddaughter of Federico da Montefeltro (the famous broken-nosed condottiero portrayed in profile by Piero della Francesca), Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara was by family, friendship, or patronage affiliated with almost every significant figure of the Renaissance. In addition to popes and emperors, she included in her circle the poet and humanist Pietro Bembo, authors Pietro Aretino and Baldassare Castiglione, who dedicated Il Cortegiano to her, and Queen Marguerite of Navarre. Most celebrated was her profound but platonic relationship with Michelangelo. Colonna was a fine poet in her own right and the first woman in Italy to publish her own Rime. She also presented Michelangelo with a manuscript of her spiritual sonnets. Deeply devout throughout her life, she supported reformers within the Catholic Church, eventually evolving views not inconsistent with Lutheranism. Targoff (English & Italian studies, Brandeis Univ.), the author of books on John Donne, the language of devotion, and the theme of Eros and the afterlife in Renaissance English, fills a profound gap, providing the first modern biography of this remarkable person.