ABSTRACT
Irene di Spilimbergo life story is one of the longest written about an early modern woman artist, yet she only lived twenty-one years. Anne Jacobson Schutte’s article on the life story of Irene di Spilimbergo provides excellent background on both the biographer and his subject, and is highly recommended to the interested reader. Scholarly consensus currently holds that Atanagi was also responsible for writing the eleven-page vita of Irene that precedes the poems, in addition to the dedicatory introduction, which is the only place where his authorship is recorded. The desire for fame and a competitive spirit are key components of Irene’s portrayal as a painter, for they are typically found in Renaissance artistic biography, but not often in association with the rare female artist. Although the discussion of Irene’s artistic inclinations involves only a limited portion of the biographical narrative, there are nevertheless some fascinating comments.
