Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna

by Ramie Targoff

A biography of Vittoria Colonna, a confidante of Michelangelo, the scion of one of the most powerful families of her era, and a pivotal figure in the Italian Renaissance

Ramie Targoff's Renaissance Woman tells of the most remarkable woman of the Italian Renaissance: Vittoria Colonna, Marchesa of Pescara. Vittoria has long been celebrated by scholars of Michelangelo as the artist's best friend--the two of them exchanged beautiful letters, poems, and works of art that bear witness to their intimacy--but she also had close ties to Charles V, Pope Clement VII and Pope Paul III, Pietro Bembo, Baldassare Castiglione, Pietro Aretino, Queen Marguerite de Navarre, Reginald Pole, and Isabella d'Este, among others. Vittoria was the scion of an immensely powerful family in Rome during that city's most explosively creative era. Art and literature flourished, but political and religious life were under terrific strain. Personally involved with nearly every major development of this period--through both her marriage and her own talents--Vittoria was not only a critical political actor and negotiator but also the first woman to publish a book of poems in Italy, an event that launched a revolution for Italian women's writing. Vittoria was, in short, at the very heart of what we celebrate when we think about sixteenth-century Italy; through her story the Renaissance comes to life anew.

Genres: Biography, History, Italy, Nonfiction, Renaissance, Art, Womens

352 pages, Hardcover

First published April 17, 2018

About the author

Ramie Targoff is professor of English, co-chair of Italian Studies, and the Jehuda Reinharz Director of the Mandel Center for the Humanities at Brandeis University. She holds a B.A. from Yale University and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. She is the author of multiple books on Renaissance poetry and religion. Her most recent book, Renaissance Woman, is a biography of Vittoria Colonna, the first woman poet ever published in Italy (in 1538) and Michelangelo's best friend.

Reviews

[Jo Walton]

I'd been looking forward to this for a long time but then I was disappointed. Maybe there just isn't enough known about Vittoria Colonna to have a proper biography, maybe the source material is just too thin, but this felt forced and unsatisfying. The outlines of her life are fascinating, but the outlines are almost all this gave me.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Targoff's passion for sharing Colonna's story was one of the best things about the book. It didn't seem necessary though to dismiss the early twentieth biographers so quickly as she does, particularly when she does cite Jerrold in her bibliography. This bibliography, demonstrating extensive research and generously offering suggestions for further reading, was as much fun to read as the biography. I did miss the precision of footnotes, though. There were a few wincey moments. Why the commentary on Vittoria's looks? A passage on Lady Macbeth's madness made for a jarring aside in the account of Colonna's illness. There were also some wonderful bits: especially the description of Ischia, and the moving account of Colonna's friendship with Michelangelo.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a unique glimpse into the 16th century. Vittoria Colonna was an intriguing historical figure, and her poetry and letters leave us a record of her life that give perspective on the church, treatment of women, and art of the era. I was particularly interested in the analysis of her relationship with Reginald Pole. Her view of him provides insight into his character not found in other sources.

I received this book through NetGalley.

[Cristie Underwood]

Well researched and well written. Perfect for history buffs or fans of trivia.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

It may seem odd to judge a book by its use of punctuation, but I was delighted with Targoff's semi-colons, hyphens, parenthesis and so forth; they expressed her greater style: well-chiseled prose that was clear and flowed at a steady pace through the work.
And what a life worth exploring. Colonna was one of several aristocratic women who took part in defining the Italian Renaissance as we know it. Diplomat, poet and religious mystic, Colonna was also an important part of the attempt to reform Catholicism before the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation.
As I had read The Swerve by her life partner Stephen Greenblatt just a few months ago, I couldn't help comparing the books as they were seemingly both done in Italy, possibly at the same time, though The Serve came out years before this book. I can't help but feel this is the better work. Mind you, The Swerve is a wonderful investigation into the rediscovery of Lucretius' On the Nature of Things that falls a bit flat in the last chapter or two, which offer a cursory exam of Lucretius' Epicurian philosophy and its effect on Western Civilization over a period of several hundred years.
I acknowledge that the problem I experienced was in part due to the differences in their organizing principals. Whereas Targoff's book is a biography, Greenblatt's is a piece of detective non-fiction; biography have an advantage with a fairly clear framework of life and death, whereas detective fiction--if the accused or in this case rediscovered text keeps rattling around--loses the defined moment in which the case best be wrapped up. They are both classic examples of what is called New Historicism, where the historian spins the cloth of the epoch to weave, cut and sew a garment that fits a spectre-like figure lacking archival details that are the stuff of a tradition biography. Both Targoff and Greenblatt have proven themselves masters at this sort of work (Read Will In the World by Greenblatt if you don't believe me). But in a comparison between The Swerve and The Life of Vittoria Colonna, I preferred the later. Targoff uses every shred of evidence she finds and a true, scholarly knowledge of her period to write a compelling tale of a great and often forgotten women who was best friends with Michelangelo and numerous popes, negotiated treaties for her family, was considered saintly in her religious devotion, mastered the Sonett form and became a bestseller when the printing press was just beginning to dominate the production of language.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary book. Beautifully written, researched with care and excitement. Story of a complicated sixteenth century woman and the interrelationships of the Italian and broader European elite. For someone versed in art history but not political or religio-political history this book brought to life many individuals known to me only through their portraits by their contemporary artists.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not completely successful as a biography. It starts in the middle of Vittoria’s life, and spends a lot of time on her poetry, which I didn’t find all that appealing. The author does a good job, though, chronicling the two outstanding friendships of Vittoria’s life - one with Michelangelo, and the other with Reginald Pole, an English cardinal who later became, under Queen Mary, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury. Before reading this book, I had no idea there had been a range of views among prominent Catholics about how to respond to Martin Luther, some of them quite liberal; many of these ideas seem to have been suppressed after the Council of Trent.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not finish this book; I made it about 1/4 of the way through. The first several chapters were especially interesting, while after chapter 4, Targoff seemingly focuses on the more general history. Very interesting, but very dense, and the sheer amount of information presented was done in such a way that I had trouble keeping names, places, and other information straight. I'm very interested in history, but began to feel bogged down.

The background was very interesting, but, as other reviewers noted, this wasn't so much a biography as Vittoria Colonna as it was a broader history of her era. In and of itself this was very interesting, but there were nearly entire chapters dedicated to various aspects of this era, which, had I been more interested in the general history of the time, would have preferred a more upfront acknowledgment of that. I suspect there just isn't as much known about Vittoria Colonna to have a fully developed biography (and understandably so), but in that case, perhaps it would have been better to present this as a general history of the time, with specific people featured in individual chapters.

[Lorraine Tosiello · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vittoria Colonna was the most famous woman poet in Renaissance Italy, a spiritual giant, a savvy political negotiator, a cherished friend of Michelangelo and correspondent with religious and political leaders. Add to this that after her death, her will was thwarted, her burial site obliterated, her good name questioned by the Inquisition. Wow! This is a power house story!

Unfortunately, though the research of this book is prodigious, the writing slants to the dry and somewhat pedantic. How could a story of such a complex, accomplished and historically important person be so hard to get through? Right off the bat, the first chapter is devoted to Vittoria's husband. There's important stuff and relationships to unravel in that chapter but I would not have chosen to introduce the subject of a biography through the mirror of her husband. By p. 31 we read "There is no way to know what Vittoria's life was like between the announcement of her engagement in 1495 and the signing of the nuptial contract in 1507." Really? There's no history of the Colonna family during this time? No local color? No descriptions of nobles of her rank in other courts to compare? Her father was the Grand Constable of Naples, surely at least a description of the city and the life of women there would have been in order. I would point out, too, that the chapter on the Sack of Rome was approached from important military and political angles, but we are interested in the life of the women, the social and personal angle and we don't get that.

The book really starts getting interesting about Chapter 8 ("Hidden Heretics"). Here, Targoff is able to describe the ducal palace at Ferrara (I was craving that kind of detail) followed by an excellent chapter on the literary piracy of Vittoria's poetry. A bit later, when we get to the analysis and discussion of Vittoria's and Michelangelo's poetry, the writing becomes fluid and poetic itself.

While Targoff is superior at explaining the positions and actions of the male Popes, heretics, reformers and ascetics (and I learned a lot! which is my first criteria of a good book!), I felt that she was never able to explain fully Vittoria's religious experience, nor most of the motives behind her actions. On page 240, she leaves the fact that Vittoria Colonna betrayed her own confessor to the Papal authorities as a Protestant sympathizer basically unexplained, except to say "she had no intention of leaving the ark of the church and finding herself among the drowning." And yet, with her attachment to Cardinal Pole, the stipulations of her will and her own writings she continually validated the reform branch of the Church. I would love to have explored the possibility that Vittoria, as savvy and politically connected as she was, might have been a double agent!

So read it to learn about one of those amazing yet forgotten women of history! But, I might have known from the title, "Renaissance Woman," that there was little inspiration in this telling.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes there are just too many people invited to the party and one loses sight of the guest of honor. In this case, Vittoria Colonna, the author's subject, takes up probably less than half of the book as much time is spent describing other people and events. Normally that's not a problem, but this is Renaissance Italy with its countless popes, Medicis, Borgias, Sforzas, Henrys, Charles, Alexanders, Alessandros, Ferrara, Ferrante, and the list goes on. It's dense. And there are no maps. And as one heading into summer break with other dense books to read, I felt like I was heading into a reading slump--where I don't want to read anything.

This is not to say that Vittoria Colonna is not an interesting woman. She was Italy's first famous female poet and knew lots of interesting people and people really valued what she had to say. Not too shabby for that time period. Granted, she wrote years' worth of poems to her dead husband to work through her grief-- of losing a man who was constantly unfaithful to her and then she wanted to become a nun in one of the strictest orders around even though she was beyond wealthy and had newfound independence in her widowhood. She fasted and flagellated herself. So, I don't quite understand Vittoria Colonna or her motives. Ramie Targoff also has hard time understanding her motives as it seems everyone lost Vittoria's letters, so what Vittoria wanted has to be gleamed from the responses she received. This makes it hard to know her as a person. One thing that we do have in common is trying to live life the way we want. She wished to be a nun; the Pope said no (it seemed he had personal and political reasons to do so). She worked with him in order to create a space for her to observe her faith. She did other things to, like become friends with Michelangelo, but I stopped reading before I got to that part, because watching TV became more engaging. I am okay not knowing what happened. One of the problems for me is that the players discussed are described more by what they did rather than who they were and what their personalities were like. It was challenging to remember who did what and why, and the continual onslaught of new characters made it even more challenging. I can handle a challenging read, but this one just didn't have the heart for me.

[Ruthmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I knew the name of Vittoria Colonna, all I knew was that she was a confidante of Michelangelo. The reviews of Targoff's work excited me, and I am glad I read her biography. While I have reservations about the study, I was rewarded by deepening my knowledge of Renaissance Italy, about issues related to sharing one's writing and deciding whether to have manuscripts copied (preferred in Italy) or printed (considered the only way to go in London), about the spread of Protestant ideas in Italy, about arranged marriages and nepotism--I had no idea it originated as a reference to assigning prime rewards to the nieces and nephews (or progeny) of popes.

I wish that Targoff, an English professor, had delved more deeply into the literary aspects of
Vittoria's poetry. Nevertheless, her sociocultural commentary situated the historical person of Vittoria. And indeed she deserves attention, as the first Italian poet to have work printed in Italy and thus facilitated the burst of women writers in her day. She was a confidante not only of Michelangelo, but of popes and the intelligentsia. She was the granddaughter of Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza, whose joint portrait by Piero della Francesca remains one of my very favorites. She corresponded with Marguerite de Navarre and was the adoptive "mother" of Reginald Pole. The Gonzagas, the Estes, and more were family and friends, and the Colonna were long the richest of the Roman families. Clearly, she was an important player in society and politics. Widowed very early, she always sought refuge in convents, though she was prohibited from creating a convent of her own. Her early poetry glorified her dead husband, but she changed course as her spiritual life deepened. I do not believe that Targoff can penetrate too deeply beneath the skin of this woman, perhaps because so much has been lost, but there was a certain sterile quality in my reading of Targoff's biography. Worth the read to deepen or broaden our picture of Renaissance Italy.

[Heather Stein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although Colonna's exciting life embraced nearly every development that now characterizes sixteenth-century Europe -- art, technology, politics and religion -- the character Ramie Targoff uncovers from archival documents and dusty, unindexed volumes is almost foreign to the Renaissance we imagine today. Sexless, sober and unmoored from any one urban center, Colonna's experiences provide an important counterpoint to the secular decadence celebrated by Lorenzo the Magnificent and represented in such body-ripping period pieces as "The Borgias." Even more experienced scholars of the Renaissance will gain insight into Vittoria's life, one of perennial wonder and disappointment, by understanding her simultaneous divergence from so many fundamental aspects of society, a divergence that this biography captures in full, resplendent detail. Indeed, Renaissance Woman composes a sweeping minor-key introduction to the period that forefronts the perspectives most general histories relegate to their back chapters: women in the patriarchy, Protestant piety in assumed Catholic strongholds, the South under the Northern-dominated geopolitical order, manuscript culture after the explosion of print, convents instead of the Curia. Add to this Targoff's teacherly inability to resist a good backstory -- her dazzling account of the discovery of Nero's palace stands out -- and readers of various preparation will walk away with a rich vision of the predominant and countervaling traditions at the height of the Renaissance and an accurate understanding of how those traditions came to be. A thirteen-week college seminar could easily be built off the book's thirteen thematically organized chapters and very little would be left out.

[Ginny Kaczmarek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating glimpse into the life of the first woman to publish a book of her own poetry, who was also a brilliant artistic critic, a spiritual reformer, and a thoughtful correspondent with popes, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, a queen, artists like Michaelangelo, and religious reformers like Reginald Pole. She even negotiated on behalf of her family in a diplomatic role when her brother became entangled in a war between the emperor and the pope.

Targoff's writing keeps Vittoria centered and illuminates her (extremely wealthy & privileged) world in sumptuous detail. Occasionally the text bogs down with centuries of history about a particular place or person; after a few paragraphs of dates and names, I'll admit I started to skim. But the glimpses of Vittoria's letters, and letters to her, as well as interpretations of her poems in relation to her life and religious beliefs shed new light on the Renaissance and women's roles of the time.

[Kiely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Targoff accomplishes the mountainous feat of writing a comprehensive yet easy-to-read biography of one of the most important women of the Italian Renaissance. Vittoria was a poet, a friend to Michelangelo, and the Marchese of Pescara, but she also was a deeply religious woman, a believer in Protestant ideas when doing so in Italy was dangerous, and a very contradictory and complex person. Targoff's writing sometimes seems to get a bit flippant for my liking, and I was not always a fan of her asides; I also didn't quite care for her bringing up Shakespeare at every opportunity, which really had no place in this book. Other than that, this is a quite useful introduction to diving into more research about the fascinating Vittoria Colonna.

[Pamela Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Widowed in her teens, Vittoria Colonna was the daughter of a prominent Roman family which ruled a large portion of Renaissance Italy. Subsequently she devoted herself to God, becoming the first Italian female poet and befriending Michelangelo, popes, cardinals, rulers of nations, and leaders of the Protestant movement. Because this reads like a history book, I had to skim portions describing families' intermarriages, battles, Catholic Church history, etc. I was most interested in the early portions of the book describing Vittoria's retreats (following her husband's demise in battle) to the family's castle on Ischia, which my husband and I have visited over twenty years.

[Stella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read the paper book. I had to force myself to finish it: in line with other reviews, unfortunately there just does not seem to be enough that is known about Vittoria Colonna to support a whole book. To fill the vast gaps, the author uses conjecture and invites the reader to imagine what may have happened and, more infuriatingly, takes wild guesses as to why the heroine did the things she did. The writing style is simple, almost colloquial; the editing poor (if I saw “none other” one more time, I would have lost my mind). At least once, a word is used incorrectly. There are many wonderful biographies of interesting historic figures; sadly, this is not one of them.

[Caity · Rating 5 out of 5]

Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna was wonderful to read. I did find it overwhelming at first, but as I was reading this for an essay I'm writing and not necessarily for "pleasure", it was perfect. I do understand some of the other reviews- this isn't a typical biography. I did not get to know Vittoria intimately, but I got to know her as an acquaintance. I definitely recommend reading it, but go into it knowing that it is largely about her life and Renaissance Italy, and not so much about her as a person. The only thing I found myself wishing for was a more chronological flow.

[Karlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first woman to publish poetry in Italy was an unusual best selling writer. Ms Targoff's readable biography creates a portrait of the Renaissance woman and also gives insight into the research required. As a wealthy widow, Vittoria Colonna, had many friends and moved about often. Letters were saved from her correspondence with Michelangelo, a close friend, for instance. Will email correspondence be available for future biographers?

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vittoria was a wealthy widow who would have preferred to live a life of pious solitude. Instead, she found herself out in the world where her sonnets gained traction and brought her fame and celebrated companions. Targoff puts her life into context in what was happening in other parts of Europe in the 16th century and we see how she interacts with other nationalities and famous players of the era.

[Nick Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archival research makes this book strong: lots of newly discovered documents about this poet and reformer and friend of Michelangelo. The research sometimes dominates though, getting in the way of telling the story (and making the poems come alive). Even so, it's a big addition to the field of Renaissance letters.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book woke up an interest in Italy and the Renaissance. Since then I traveled to Italy, visited Uffizi Gallery and read more books about this period. The book is very captivating.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very detailed and astonishing life of an upper class woman who had many close well known connections and friends, including Michaelangelo.

[Emily Woods · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoying this authors ability to bring these women to life in her stories, and making this history approachable and digestible

[Alana White · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeply scholarly look at Vittoria Colonna, the first woman to publish a book of poems in Italy. Center stage in 16th Italy, she was a close friend of Michelangelo and many other luminaries of Renaissance Italy.

[Mary Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is at its best when it discusses Colonna the poet. I found this author's analysis of the Reformation shallow, however, and I'm not convinced that Colonna was as sympathetic to the ideas of Luther as is suggested, even if she was committed to Church reform.

That said, the author did a phenomenal amount of research. As others have mentioned, the book gets bogged down in detail, but it offers an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning more about Vittoria Colonna and women writers of the Renaissance.

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book because of what appeared like a rave review in the Wall Street Journal and because I had read Isaacson's Da Vinci and wanted to learn more about the Italian Renaissance period. With Schama's "Embarrassment of Riches", the sweeping overview of the Dutch Renaissance history and art, I hoped this book would help round out the picture. In some ways it did and in others it was a disappointment.

First the kudos. The author did a huge amount of research, uncovering and linking together resources from many disparate sources. You learn how the Catholic church in Italy reacted to Martin Luther's Reformation, the repeated conflicts and relationships between the Holy Roman Empire, France, Spain and England, relationships of Italian city-states and, of course, the uniqueness of Vittoria Colonna, a poet, arbitrator, wife and widow and religious activist.

Unfortunately, the author failed to give me a way of relating to Colonna, the person. The book was laden with facts, people, places, excerpts from poems but we're not offered a way for sharing Colonna's feelings as she went through her interesting life. When you read some books on historical subjects you can actually envision it being made into a movie or serial. Not in this case.

[Critterbee❇ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Renaissance Woman is the long overdue biography of Vittoria Colonna, a woman who can not really be described accurately in a single sentence. She was a poetess, a much sought after literary critic, a friend to Michelangelo, a devout Catholic yet much interested in Protestantism. Through friendship with political powers, she had some political influence. She inspired other women to write and attempt publication.

Thanks to the author the thorough research, and for telling the story of Vittoria.

*eARC Netgalley*

[Diane]

From the Christian Science Monitor review: Targoff evocatively conveys the colorful, dramatic Renaissance world of Vittoria Colonna, in large part by quoting from Colonna herself (“Certainly I could not ever explain how subtly and wonderfully it is made,” she writes to Michelangelo, thanking him for a small drawing of the Crucifixion he'd sent her, then adding the charmingly personal detail: “I have looked at it well in the light, and with a magnifying glass and a mirror, and I never saw anything more perfectly done”).