vittoriacolonna.org

Vittoria Colonna was a woman of great personality, a poet and, according to some authors, "the most famous woman in Italy." On the one hand, daughter of Fabrizio Colonna and Agnese da Montefeltro, and granddaughter of Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino. On the other, Marchioness of Pescara, title of her husband, Francisco Fernando de Ávalos, Neapolitan, of a family faithful to the Crown of Aragon and Naples, son of Alfonso de Àvalos and María Hipólita Diana de Aragón y Cardona, with whom the wife at the age of 16. Francesco Ferrante d'Avalos The Colonna, allies of the De Ávalos family, arranged the marriage when they were still children. They were married on September 27, 1509 on the island of Ischia, in the Bay of Naples, in the "Aragonese castle" that, owned by the kings of the Crown of Aragon, passed into the hands of Fernando el Catolico, who, gratefully to Íñigo de Àvalos for the great defense against the French, he granted the government of the island

From the fifteenth century on, humanism promoted a new mentality that places the individual (man) as the center and measure of all things (it sediments of androcentrism). This fact will promote in the artistic field the emergence of new genres associated with the interests and desires of a new clientele. In this sense, the promoted portrait appears as an image of power. At this time the female portrait became something valuable, as a symbol of private property. Likewise, we also find portraits of women who deconstruct the socially assigned role. This is the case of Vittoria Colonna (aristocrat, cultured, refined, wrote loving poetry and reflective prose on religious and spiritual themes =. Admired by great men of her time such as Baldassare de Castiglione (author of the book The Courtier), Leonardo Da Vinci, who immortalized her in a portrait, or Michelangelo, who was strongly influenced by her, a relationship that has left an extensive epistolary relationship.