In a time when women were expected to be submissive and silent, Isabella ruled the Renaissance quite loudly.
A powerful art patron and influential cultural leader, Isabella d'Este was a woman—which is news enough in this case! Isabella smashed stereotypes insisting that court women remain submissive and obedient; she was loud, demanding, and regal, and lorded her power over artists and aristocrats alike with something akin to glee. No stranger to the world of art patronage, Isabella used her humanist education to wow her peers and rise through the ranks of art patrons and come out on top. She commissioned artists such as Pietro Perugino, Raphael Titian, and even Leonardo da Vinci to fill her studiolo with both religious and mythological art. Through a unique relationship of power-sharing between Isabella and her husband, Francesco Gonzaga, she was able to also enter the realm of politics. Due to Francesco's own distractions and increasing incompetence in government, Isabella eventually upstaged her husband and ruled Mantua as regent for eleven years after his death.
Why was this unique? In the Renaissance, women were quite stifled (there's a reason you don't hear about many women Renaissance artists). They were only given education enough to delight and entertain their male counterparts, and were expected only to bear children and wear a pretty face, for the most part. In court, they were to be engaging, but never outshine men's intelligence.
Obviously, Isabella did not follow these rules. Through a carefully constructed persona, she was able to disregard most of these "courtly standards" with hardly any backlash—in fact, people adored her. She remains one of the most famous art patrons of the Renaissance, and was a leading figure in fashion, culture, and social status throughout Europe. Her travels gave her wide renown, and she died as one of the most powerful women of her time.
Isabella's life is just too interesting to fit into one blog post. You can listen to the full podcast episode on Isabella d'Este below, or click here to listen on Spotify. For a full transcript of the episode, click here.
For more reading on this fabulous female figure (and to see what research was used in the episode itself), check out the links below:
by Julia Mary Cartwright Ady
by Francis Ames-Lewis
by Ludovico Ariosto
by David Chambers
by Sarah D.P. Cockram
by Holly S. Hurlburt
by Rose Marie San Juan
by Tom Kington
by Lisa K. Regan
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