Tullia d'Aragona (1510–1556)

Tullia d'Aragona was one of the most admired and accomplished women of the Italian Renaissance. She was surrounded by wealthy and powerful men, and poets competed with one another to extol her charms. In Ferrara from about 1531-34, she was a star of the d'Este court and a lover of the poet Bernado Tasso, among others. She was in attendance at the court of Grand Duke Cosimo I in Florence, where she wrote several of her most important works. She was a contemporary of Laura Battiferra degli Ammannati.