{{Short description, Italian stage actress
Lucrezia Di Siena (
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
1564), was an Italian stage actress. She is known as the first identified female actor in Europe since antiquity.
She signed a signature for an acting contract by a
Commedia dell'arte
(; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
theatre company in Rome on 10 October 1564, in which she is stated to be able to sing, do declamation and play music. This is the first time any professional actress is mentioned in Italy since antiquity and the first time any actress known by name to perform in Commedia dell'artre. All other members of the company were men.
She is assumed to have been a former
courtesan
Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or othe ...
, a ''cortigiana onesta'', a common background for the first generation of actresses in Italy: this was a good background for an actress because courtisans of that class were normally instructed in singing, declamation, music and dance, subjects otherwise rarely attainable for women, and the fact that she was noted with no last name in combination with the honorary title ''Domina'' (a common way of address for courtesans), supports this assumption.Jan Sewell, Clare Smout, The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage '
After this, actresses became common in Italy, and she was followed only three years later by
Vincenza Armani
Vincenza Armani (c. 1530 in Venice – 11 September 1569), was an Italian actress, singer, poet, musician, lace maker and sculptor. She was one of the most famous Italian actresses of the period and known as the 'Divine Vincenza Armani'. She ...
and
Barbara Flaminia
Barbara Flaminia (1540–1586) was an Italian stage actress.Starší divadlo v českých zemích do konce 18. století. Osobnosti a díla, ed. A. Jakubcová, Praha: Divadelní ústav – Academia 2007 She was one of the earliest actresses known in ...