Costanza Sforza of Santa Fiora (1550 – 22 January 1617) was an Italian noblewoman. By birth she was member of the powerful

House of Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. Sforza rule began with the family's acquisition of the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century and ended with the d ...

and by marriage member of the

House of Boncompagni The House of Boncompagni is a princely family of the Italian nobility which settled in Bologna in around the 14th century, but was probably originally from Umbria. In 1572 Ugo Boncompagni was elected pope, taking the name Gregory XIII, and the f ...

Early life

Costanza was daughter of Sforza Sforza, 1st Marquess of Castell'Arquato, 11th Count of

Santa Fiora Santa Fiora is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Grosseto, in the Italian region of Tuscany, located about southeast of Florence and about east of Grosseto. Santa Fiora borders the following municipalities: Abbadia San Salvatore, ...

(1520 –

Castell'Arquato Castell'Arquato (; Piacentino (dialect), Piacentino: or ) is an Italian town located on the first hills of Val D’Arda in the province of Piacenza, in Emilia-Romagna, approximately from Piacenza and from Parma. Places nearby include Bacedasco ...

, 21 October 1575), and his first wife Luigia

Pallavicino Pallavicino () is an Italian surname, derived from a medieval given name. Notable people with the name include: * the following members of the noble Pallavicini family: ** Antonio Pallavicino (1441–1507), Italian Roman Catholic cardinal ** Batti ...

(died in 1552), maternal granddaughter of

Jacopo Salviati Jacopo Salviati (15 September 1461 – 6 September 1533) was a Florentine politician and son-in-law of Lorenzo de' Medici. Marriage On 10 September 1486, he married Lorenzo's daughter Lucrezia de' Medici, with whom he had ten children. The so ...

and wife Lucrezia de' Medici. She was a half-sister of Cardinal

Francesco Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death. In the 1420s, he participated in the War of L'Aqui ...

and paternal granddaughter of

Costanza Farnese Costanza Farnese (19 December 1500 – 23 May 1545) was a daughter of Alessandro Farnese and Silvia Ruffini. Born before her father became Pope Paul III, her siblings were Pier Luigi, Paul, Ranuccio and Lucrezia. She married Bosio II Sforza, ...

(daughter of Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Paul III). She married Don Giacomo Boncompagni, 1st Marquess of Vignola, and 1st

Duke of Sora The Duchy of Sora was a semi-independent state in Italy, created in 1443 by King Alfonso I of Naples and dissolved in 1796. It occupied the south-eastern part of what is today Lazio, bordering what is now Abruzzo. Its capital was first Sora, and ...

, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, on 5 February 1576, and had fourteen children.

Lavinia Fontana Lavinia Fontana (24 August 1552–11 August 1614) was an Italian Mannerist painter active in Bologna and Rome. She is best known for her successful portraiture, but also worked in the genres of mythology and religious painting. She was trained ...

, a prominent Bolognese artist, painted her portrait in 1594. A year later, Constanza served as the namesake and godmother of Fontana's daughter.

Notes

References

* Murphy, Caroline P. (1996). "Lavinia Fontana and 'Le Dame Citta': understanding female artistic patronage in late sixteenth-century Bologna." ''Renaissance Studies'' 10 (2). pp. 190–208. 1550 births 1617 deaths Duchesses in Italy

Costanza Costanza is a feminine given name. It may refer to: People Given name *Costanza d'Avalos, Duchess of Francavilla (1460–1541) *Costanza Bonaccorsi (born 1994), Italian canoeist *Costanza Chiaramonte (1377–1423), Neapolitan noble *Costanza Di Ca ...

Date of birth unknown Date of death unknown Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown 16th-century Italian nobility 16th-century Italian women 17th-century Italian nobility 17th-century Italian women {{duke-stub