A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Bertana, Lucia
BERTANA, LUCIA.
In the sixteenth century the literary annals of Italy shone with illustrious names, and among these may be found many women assiduously cultivating poetry and science, and attaining no mean proficiency in these elevated pursuits. Naples boasted Vittoria Colonna, and a few years afterwards, Laura Terracina. Padua possessed Gaspara Stampa; Brescia, Veronica Gambara; and Modena, Tarquenia Molza. At Bologna, among many poetesses at that time, we find Ippolita Paleotti writing elegant verses in Greek and in Latin; the nun Febronia Pannolini, remarkable for her choice prose, and flowing hymns, as well in Latin as in Italian; and Valeria Miani, who achieved that difficulty some male sceptics arrogantly refuse to feminine capacity—a successful tragedy. But among all the Bolognese women, the crown must be yielded to Lucia Bertana. Not only contemporary authorities award her this praise, but Maffei, in his "History of Italian literature," gives her the third place among the most admirable poetesses of the sixteenth century, preferring only Vittoria Colonna and Veronica Gambara. She was born at Bologna, of the family Dall'Oro, in 1521; and became the wife of Gerone Bertana, a gentleman of Modena, where she resided after her marriage. She was not only celebrated for her poetry, but possessed a vigorous and polished prose style. She cultivated music and painting, and turned her attention to what was at that time a respectable and sensible object of study—astrology. Besides these accomplishments, Lucia was gifted with all the virtues of her sex. She was amiable and gentle, and her excellent disposition was manifested in an attempt she most earnestly made to effect a reconciliation between two rival men of letters, Caro and Castelvetro. She conducted the matter with the utmost delicacy and good sense—appealed to the better feelings of each—and tried to show how unworthy of their superior abilities, and solid reputation, was this unmeaning bickering.
She died at Rome in 1567. Her remains were interred in the church of St. Sabina, where her husband elevated a superb monument to her memory. The estimation of various learned societies endeavoured to immortalize her by other means—medals were struck to her fame, which may yet be found in Italian Museums.