Lucrezia Gonzaga [SEP] date of death
Lucrezia Gonzaga
Lucrezia Gonzaga di Gazzuolo (1522 – 11 February 1576) was an Italian noblewoman known for her literary talents, and her association with Matteo Bandello. Bandello taught her mathematics, astronomy, rhetoric and logic, and wrote poetry in her honour, during his stay in Castel Goffredo at the court of Luigi Gonzaga. A volume of her letters was published in Venice in 1552, but some people believe Ortensio Lando was the author and not just the editor.
She was born in Bozzolo to Pirro Gonzaga, lord
following her father's death.
Neither partner was faithful: beginning in 1503, Lucrezia enjoyed a long relationship with her brother-in-law, Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua. Francesco's wife was the cultured intellectual Isabella d'Este, the sister of Alfonso, to whom Lucrezia had made overtures of friendship to no avail. The affair between Francesco and Lucrezia was passionate, more sexual than sentimental as can be attested in the fevered love letters the pair wrote one another. It has been claimed that the affair ended