In an age where women had little public power, Isabella d’Este (1474 – 1539) stands out as a formidable figure. She was born into one of Italy’s most illustrious dynasties and married into another. Her husband, Francesco Gonzaga, was a warrior and a philanderer, but their partnership – she ran the state while he was away fighting - lasted over a quarter of a century, during which time she became the greatest female patron and art collector of the Italian renaissance.    To research her acclaimed new novel The Marchesa, Sarah Dunant accessed the  extraordinary archive of 33,000 letters that Isabella d’Este left, from which her voice, charming, cunning , clever and ruthless by degrees sings out.   

‘Dunant’s Isabella is a triumph — she is too ferocious, too alive to be a mere whisp of a ghost. Dunant gives her a brilliantly lively afterlife.’  Antonia Senior, The Times

If you are in Florence and would like to attend the lecture in person at the British Institute Library, please register here or send an email to bif@britishinstitute.it

The registration fee is 15 Euro per person. 

To join this lecture online, simply click on this link to register and receive the Zoom meeting invitation:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/0dqqIZFrQOu1aWnUm93MTQ . The virtual doors will open at 18:00 Italian time on Wednesday 3rd December.