Gaspara Stampa

Jane Tylus (New York University)

Ed. by Jo Ann Cavallo, Columbia University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.6.1: Italian Writing and Culture, 453-present.
Vol. editors: Carla Bregman (Independent Scholar - North America), Jo Ann Cavallo (Columbia University)

Dates

Born c. 1523
Died 1554
Activity 1543-1554

Places

Born in Italy
Active in Italy

Activities

Primary

Poet
Singer

Resources

Stampa's Works

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One of the most accomplished poets of the Renaissance – and probably the most accomplished woman ever to write in Italian – Gaspara Stampa had a brief but tumultuous life. In an era when the chaste widow Vittoria Colonna provided the dominant model for women poets, Stampa's poetry of tormented passion directed to not one but at least two men offered an intriguingly original and for many, no doubt, unacceptable perspective. The three hundred and ten sonnets, canzoni, madrigals, and

capitoli

published posthumously by her sister Cassandra as

Rime di Madonna Gaspara Stampa

in 1554 convey an immediacy and frankness rare for their time. This is clear from the opening sonnet, which deliberately echoes the first poem of Petrarch's

Canzoniere

while refusing to convey Petrarch's tone of…

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2205 words

Citation: Tylus, Jane. "Gaspara Stampa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 September 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=12294, accessed 21 November 2024.]