Isabella D’Este ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Isabella D’Este ONLINE VIA ZOOM
Lecturer: Paula Nuttall
Isabella d’Este (1476-1530), Marchioness of Mantua, known to her contemporaries as ‘the world’s First Lady’, was one of the leading women of the Italian renaissance. She was stylish, cultivated, feisty and, in her own words, ‘hungry for art’. As a female patron in a male-dominated world, she is an exceptional figure: paintings by Mantegna decorated her study, she sat for her portrait by Leonardo da Vinci, scoured Italy for classical antiquities and stole a statue by Michelangelo from her Urbino in-laws.
Drawing extensively on contemporary anecdote, this lecture looks at Isabella’s life, personality, predilections and peccadilloes, and of course at the masterpieces of art she owned.
Paula Nuttall is Director of the V&A Medieval & Renaissance Year course and author of ‘From Flanders to Florence: the Impact of Netherlandish Painting 1400-1500 (Yale, 2004).
Paula also lectures for the Courtauld Institute, Christie’s Education, the Art Fund and the National Gallery. She was formerly a lecturer at the British Institute of Florence.