A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Molsa, Tarquinia
MOLSA, TARQUINIA,
Daughter of Camillus Molsa, knight of the order of St. James of Spain, and granddaughter of Francis Maria Molsa, a celebrated Italian poet, was one of the most accomplished ladies in the world, uniting in an extraordinary degree wit, learning, and beauty. Her father, observing her genius, had her educated with her brothers, and by the best masters, in every branch of literature and science. Some of the most distinguished scientific men of the time were her instructors and eulogists. She was perfect mistress of Latin, Greek, and the ethics of Aristotle, Plato, and Plutarch. She also understood Hebrew and natural philosophy, and wrote her own language, the Tascan, with great ease and spirit. She played on the lute and violin, and sang exquisitely.
Tarquinia Molsa was highly esteemed by Alphonsus the Second, Duke of Ferrara, and his whole court; and the city of Rome, by a decree of the senate, in which all her excellences were set forth, honoured her with the title of Singular, and bestowed on her, and the whole family of Molsa, the rights of a Roman citizen, a very unusual honour to be conferred on a woman. This decree was passed December 8th., 1600.
Molsa was married to Paulus Porrinus, but losing her husband while still very young, she would never consent to be married again. She grieved so much for his death, as to be called another Artemisia.
She retained her personal charms to an advanced period of her life, confirming the opinion of Euripides, "That the autumn of beauty is not less pleasing than its spring." Although so courted and extolled, she avoided notice and distinction, and retained to the last her fondness for a quiet and retired life.