ABSTRACT
In his chivalric masterpiece Orlando Furioso, the poet Ludovico Ariosto depicts the complementary activities of Isabella d’Este and Francesco Gonzaga. In Canto 13, 56-74, the sorceress Melissa tells Bradamante of her female descendants in the house of Este and describes Isabella and her husband:
[In Mantua] an honoured and splendid contest, She will have with her most worthy consort, Over which of the two more prizes and loves the virtues, And which opens the gates more widely to welcome courtesy. If one will tell how by the Taro and in the Kingdom of Naples, He delivered Italy from the French; The other will reply: ‘because she lived chaste, Penelope was no less than Ulysses’.*
Dove onorato o splendido certame Avrà col suo dignissimo consorte, Chi di lor più le virtù prezzi et ame,
E chi meglio apra a cortesia le porte.
