ABSTRACT

Inspired by the biographical compendium De mulieribus claris written by his friend Petrarch, the Italian writer Giovanni Boccaccio set out to compose a comparable volume documenting famous women of the past. His De mulieribus claris is a historical landmark, for it is the first collective biography exclusively devoted to women in the western hemisphere. Boccaccio’s narratives of famous women were themselves popularly disseminated through the numerous translations of the work in the early modern period. Boccaccio’s writings also must have encouraged later artistic biographers to realize the social and cultural value of documenting women artists, providing further historical support, as well as literary commonplaces, for their uncommon endeavors. The first printed edition in the vernacular was published in 1506, but was superseded in 1545 by an updated Italian version. Betussi’s rendering of the De mulieribus claris was apparently well received, resulting in it being re-issued in 1547, 1558, and 1595–96.