WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 61 



lence. There were also Maria Angela Crisculo, of whose 

 splendid work many examples are still preserved in the 

 churches of Naples, and Lavinia Fontana of Bologna, who 

 exhibited such extraordinary ability as an artist that some 

 of her pictures passed for the work of her great contem- 

 porary, Guido Reni. 1 Still more remarkable were the 

 achievements of four sisters of the noted family Anguisci- 

 ola of Cremona. So admirable was the work of the eldest 

 sister, Sofonisba, that Philip II invited her to his court in 

 Spain, where she excited the amazement of every one by 

 the splendid canvases which she executed for her illus- 

 trious patron and for the members of the royal family. 



Of the fifty female poets who flourished in Italy during 

 the Renaissance the most eminent were Gaspara Stampa, 

 Veronica Gambara, and Vittoria Colonna. Of such merit 

 and exquisite finish were the productions of their Muse 

 that they are still read with never failing pleasure. So 

 highly did Cardinal Bembo, the famous "dictator of let- 

 ters" value the scholarship and critical acumen of Vero- 

 nica Gambara that he never published anything without 

 previously submitting it to her judgment. But far more 

 eminent as a poet was the noble and accomplished Marchesa 

 of Pescara, Vittoria Colonna, who, on account of her talents 

 and virtues, was named La Divina. The friend and ad- 

 viser of scholars and the confidante of princes, she repre- 

 sented, as has truly been said, "the best phases of the Re- 

 naissance, its learning, its intelligence, its enthusiasm, its 

 subtle Platonism, combined with a profound religious faith 

 and the trace of the mysticism of a simpler age." The 

 chorus of universal praise which was sung by her contem- 

 poraries is well echoed by Ariosto when he writes of her: 

 "She has not only made herself immortal by her beauti- 

 ful style, of which I have heard not better, but she can 



i It was also said of the Venetian artist, Irene di Spilimbergo, 

 that her pictures were of such excellence that they were frequently 

 mistaken for those of her illustrious master, Titian. 



