![]() ![]() Her husband subsequently enjoyed a high position in the Kingdom of Naples, had close ties to Spanish royalty, and became a key general under Emperor Charles V. They were formally married in 1509 when she was 17 and he was 19–she having become a renowned beauty and he an extremely handsome man with superb military bearing. (Wikimedia Commons)Few people in America today have ever heard of Vittoria Colonna, but in 16th century Europe she was widely adulated for her great beauty, for her poetry, for her piety, for her compelling personality, and for her incorruptible morals.īeing born into one of the greatest, richest, and most powerful families of Christendom, it was to be expected that Vittoria would be guided for political and financial reasons into a dynastic marriage.Īt the instance of the King of Naples, she was betrothed at the age of six to Ferrante Francesco d Avalos, Marquis of Pescara, who was then eight years old and a scion of an extremely well-connected family. Known as a great beauty, she was also one of the century’s finest poets. ![]() In this portrait of her made after her death, Vittoria Colonna wears the traditional poet’s laurel wreath. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |