| Person | Born | Died | Gender | Person ID | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isabella d’Este | Ferrara | 18-5-1474 | Mantua | 13-21539 | F | P0245 |
| Instrument(s) | Professional group | Social status | Social sphere | Why is the person listed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vihuela viola da mano (vihuela de mano) viola da mano | Nobility | Patron Instrumentalist (plucked) |
| Years active | Place active | Century | Region |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1490-1500 | Mantua, Ferrara | 15cent/3/late 16cent/1/early | Italy |
Isabella d’Este — eldest daughter of Ercole d’Este of Ferrara and Eleanora de Aragón (of Naples). In 1490 (aged 16) she married Francesco Gonzaga and went to Mantua. Started singing and playing keyboard instruments in Ferrara. Continued this in Mantua, and also started to learn stringed instruments—the new violas. By 1500 she was also competent on lute, lira da braccio, and viola. • Letter to Isabella from the Marchese di Bitonto: “It would please me greatly to hear you sing it [a capitolo by Sannazaro] to the accompaniment of your viola” Cited in ward1953, p. 62, from rubsamenLS, pp 29-30.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_d'Este
| Date | Document |
|---|---|
| 1497 | Letter from Francesco Comparini to Isabella d’Este. |
| 1493.03.06 | Bernardo Prospero, letter to Isabella d’Este. |
| 1497-1499 | Isabella d’Este and Lorenzo di Pavia, letters. |
| Ref | Author | Item | Pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| rubsamenLS | Rubsamen, Walter H. | Literary Sources of Secular Music in Italy (ca. 1500). University of California Press, 1943. | 29-30 |
| ward1953 | Ward, John M. | “The ‘Vihuela de mano’ and its Music, 1536-1576”. Diss., New York University, 1953. | 62 |