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Isabella Canali
Spouses Andreini
Also known as Isabella Andreini
Biography
Birth date 1562
Death 1604
Biographical entries in old dictionaries


Entry by Valentina Denzel, 2007

We know little about the family, childhood and education of Isabella Andreini, who was one of the most famous female actors, playwrights and poets of the Renaissance. Born in 1562 in Padua, she was the daughter to Venetian Paolo Canali. Probably around the age of fifteen she began her career as an actress with the troupe Comici Gelosi, where she met the actor Francesco Andreini whom she married in 1578. The couple had seven children, among whom Giovan Battista Andreini, who would follow in the path of his parents as an actor and playwright. Isabella Andreini was quickly associated with her role as ‘prima donna innamorata’ to the point that her name alone evoked the character of a young woman in love. In 1583, she and her husband were appointed directors of the troupe Comici Gelosi.

Isabella Andreini made her debut as a writer with Mirtilla, one of the first pastorals written by a woman. This work, published in 1588, met with some success and was translated into French. Probably the same year, Andreini published the Epitalamio nelle nozze de l’ilustrissimi of Don Michele Peretti e donna Margherita Somaglia. During the marriage celebrations for Ferdinand de Medici and Christine of Lorraine in Florence on 13 May 1589, her company staged La Pazzia [madness] of Isabella. This play was highly successful and the artistic performances of the actors were praised by, among others, the poet Gabrielle Chiabrera. In 1593, she participated in a poetry contest in Rome, where she won second place after Tasso. This earned her her appointment to the Accademia Intenta [delli Intenti, Padua], which proclaimed her the heiress of Petrarch and emulator of Tasso. In 1601, Isabella Andreini published her Rime, a collection of poems dedicated to Cardinal Aldobrandini. The success of this work was confirmed by a succession of reprints. In 1603, she travelled with her troupe to the French court of Marie de Medici, where she was highly praised. The Comici Gelosi remained in France until 1604. On 11 June 1604, during her return trip to Italy, Isabella Andreini, who was pregnant, died from a miscarriage and was buried solemnly in Lyon.

Through her outstanding success as an actress, writer and member of an academy, Isabella Andreini embodies the ideal image of the Renaissance woman of letters. Eulogised by many major poets, including Tasso and Giovanni Battista Marini, she herself was well aware of her amazing position, and she proudly highlighted it in the preface to her Lettere (a fictitious correspondence dealing with themes such as love, marriage, and virtues). This awareness led her to take sides in the Querelle des femmes and the Querelle du mariage, and thus play with philogynist, misogynist, misandrist and misogamist topoi. In Mirtilla, Andreini depicts what one could call female solidarity, embodied by the two rival lovers, Filli and Mirtilla. In her Lettere, she sometimes adopts a masculine stance, as in Del prender Moglie (On the Decision to take a wife), where at times she praises the beauty of a bride from a Petrarchan perspective, while in other instances she criticises the view that marriage means man’s renunciation to freedom. The philogyny of the author is beyond doubt, however, as shown in La Pazzia d’Isabella, where the protagonist embodies divine fury - a character who is knowledgeable in many areas, and endowed with abilities, that go far beyond those usually ascribed to female personae. Love is another topic often discussed by Andreini. With the aim of stressing the importance of female honour, she recurringly eulogises Neoplatonic love. In Mirtilla, she also addresses homo-erotic love, with the nymph Ardelia falling in love with her own image.

The works of Isabella Andreini, especially her Lettere, were printed several times in the seventeenth century. The author then continued to be praised for her artistic abilities as well as for her virtues. Since the 1990s, her works have attracted a number of studies focusing on the history of the Commedia dell'arte and the role of the actress in Renaissance society. The historical and literary personage of Isabella Andreini has also attracted the attention of researchers and scholars, notably Americans. Recently, the writer and her works have generated interest among scholars in Gender Studies and Queer Studies, most notably Anne MacNeil (see bibliography below).

(Translated by Julie Robertson)

Works

- ap. 1580-1604 : Lettere della signora Isabella Andreini, Venise, M.A. Zaltieri, 1607 -- éd. Giovan Battista Combi, Venise, 1647.

- 1588 : Mirtilla pastorale (pastorale en 5 actes),Vérone, S. Dalle Donne et C. Franceschini -- ed. Maria Luisa Doglio, Lucca, Maria Pacini Fazzi Editore, 1995.

- 1588 ? : Epitalamio nelle nozze de l’illustrissimi don Michele Peretti e donna Margherita Somaglia, s.l., s.d.

- 1589 : La Pazzia di Isabella (comédie perdue) Palazzo Vecchio à Florence, 13 mai 1589 (une description de cette pièce se trouve in: Flaminio Scala, Il Teatro delle favole rappresentative, éd Ferruccio Marotti, Milan, Edizioni Il Polifilo, Appendice II).

- 1601 : Rime, Milan, Girolamo Bordone et Pietromartire Locarni compagni -- éd. Antonio Bulifon, Naples, 1696.

- Fragmenti di alcune scritture, éd. Flaminio Scala, Venise, G. B. Campi, 1617 (dialogues fictifs entre des personnages de l'histoire et de la mythologie gréco-romaine, notamment sur l’amour et sur le théâtre; les textes paraissent avoir été écrits à partir de 1590; ils ont été réunis par son mari après sa mort) -- éd. Giovan Battista Combi (voirsupra).

Selected bibliography

- De’Angelis, Francesca Romana, La Divina Isabella.Vita straordinaria di una donna del Cinquecento, Florence, Sansoni Editore, 1991 (cette oeuvre contient des informations intéressantes et précieuses sur la vie d’Isabella Andreini. Toutefois on pourrait lui reprocher dans certains passages un manque d’objectivité).
- Decroisette Françoise, «La première ‘Divine’: Isabella Andreini ou l’invention d’un rôle», dans Au théâtre, au cinéma, au féminin, Mireille Calle-Gruber et Hélène Cixous, Paris, L’Harmattan, 2001, p.193-215.
- MacNeil, Anne, «The divine madness of Isabella Andreini», Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1995, 120, p.195-215.
- Marotti Ferruccio et Giovanna Romei, La Commedia dell’arte e la società barocca. La professione del teatro, Rome, Bulzoni editore, 1991, 1994.
- Panizza, Letizia et Sharon Wood (éd.), A History of Women’s Writing in Italy, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Selected bibliography of images

Fin du 16e s.: Ecole franco-flamande, Scène de la comédie italienne avec Isabelle Andreini et la troupe des Gelosi (huile sur bois), Paris, musée Carnavalet (inv.P.628).

Web Links

- Other Women’s Voices. Translations of women’s writings before 1700 (extraits de plusieurs oeuvres) : [1]

Reception

- A la Seignora Isabella Andreini O siècle bien heureux, qui jouit favorable
Du bien, par qui nos maux tous les jours sont distraits,
Dont la bouche & les yeux jettent de si doux traits;
Que qui moins les ressent est le plus misérable.

Le renom d'Isabelle errant inévitable
Nous peut ravir le sens de loin comme de près;
Bref on ne saurait voir, touché de ses attraits
Rien de plus admiré, ni de plus admirable.

C'est une autre Sapho, qui peut avec ses vers,
Donner lustre à son sexe, enflammer l'univers,
Et faire écrire Amour des plumes de son aile.
Donc, esprits que Daphné couronne de ses bras,
Afin de vivre au monde affranchis du trépas
Pour oracle & pour muse invoquéz ISABELLE.

(Siméon-Guillaume de La Roque (1603-1609), cité dans François et Claude Parfaict, Histoire de l'ancien théâtre italien depuis son origine en France, jusqu'à sa suppression en l'année 1697, Paris, Rozet, 1767)

- «La graziosa Isabella, decoro delle scene, ornamento de’Teatri, spettacolo superbo non meno di virtù che di bellezza, ha illustrato ancor lei questa professione in modo che, mentre il mondo durarà, mentre staranno i secoli, mentre avran vita gli ordini e i tempi, ogni voce, ogni lingua, ogni grido risuonarà il celebre nome d’Isabella.» (Tommaso Garzoni da Bagnacavallo, De’ comici e tragedi così auttori come recitatori, cioè de gli istrioni [1585], cité par Ferruccio Marotti et Giovanna Romei, op.cit., p.12) [La charmante Isabelle, merveille de la scène, ornement des théâtres, spectacle superbe non seulement par sa beauté, mais également par sa vertu, a illustré ce métier de telle façon que tant que le monde durera, tant que les siècles s’ensuivront, tant que l’ordre et le temps persistent, chaque voix, chaque langue, chaque cris fera retentir le célèbre nom d’Isabelle. (Traduction V. Denzel)]

- «Nel giorno, che sublime in bassi manti
Isabella imitava alto furore;
Estolta con angelici sembianti
Ebbe del senno altrui gloria maggiore;

Alhor saggia tra ‘l suon, saggia tra i canti
non mosse piè, che non sorgesse Amore,
Né voce aprì, che non crease amanti,
Né riso fè, che non beasse un core.

Chi fu quel giorno a rimirar felice
Di tutt’altro quaggiù cesse il desio,
Che sua vita per sempre ebbe serena.

O di Scena dolcissima Sirena,
O de’Teatri Italici Fenice,
O tra Coturni insuperabil Clio.»

(Gabriello Chiabrera, Sonetto CLXXI [vers 1601], in Isabella Andreini, Rime d’Isabella Andreini comica gelosa intenta detta l’Accesa, Naples, Presso Antonio Bulifon, 1696, p.213.) [“The day on which, sublime in lowly cloaks, / Isabella imitated high madness; / And exalted with angelic features / Had greater glory from the wisdom of others; // Then, wise among the sound, wise among the songs, / She did not move a foot that did not bring forth Amore. / Nor lifted voice that did not create lovers, / Nor made a smile that did not delight a heart. // Whoever was that day to gaze happily, / For all else of this world desire ceased, / That his life forever was serene. // O! of the stage sweetest Siren, / O! of Italian theatres the Fenice, / O! among Thespians unsurpassable Clio” (Traduction Anne MacNeil, op.cit., p.195.)]

- «Nae tu mihi animo defectum Naturae supples, Andreinia, virilis gloriae non capax tantum sed consors: imo tu sexum linquens, ipso virtutis nisu in virum te transformas.Quod si a viro virtus dicenda, felicior tu viro, quae mulier fructum virtutis proceas: si vero a virtute vir, tibi praemium melioris nominis debetur, quae munia melioris nominis, viri inquam, obis. Vir igitur es.» (Ericius Puteanus, lettre à Isabella Andreini, 9 nov. 1601, Milan, cité dans MacNeil, voir supra, Choix bibliographique, p.207-208) [Truly in my opinion you supply a defect of Nature, Andreina, who are not only capable of male glory but in fact an equal partner in it. Nay more, abandoning your own sex, you transform yourself by the labour of virtue into a man. Now if the word virtue derives from the word man, then you are more fruitful than a man, you who, though a woman, bring forth the fruit of virtue. But if the word man derives from the word virtue, then the reward of the better name, I mean the name of man, is due to you who perform the offices belonging to the better name. Therefore you are a man. (traduction MacNeil)]

- «Je ne crois point qu’Isabelle
Soit une femme mortelle,
C’est plustost quelqu’un des Dieux
Qui s’est desguisé en femme,
Afin de nous ravir l’âme
Par l’oreille, et par les yeux.

Se peut-il trouver au monde
Quelqu’autre humaine faconde
Qui la sienne ose esgaller?
Se peut-il dans le Ciel mesme
Trouver de plus douce cresme
Que celle de son parer?

Mais outre ce qu’elle attire
Toute âme par son bien dire:
Combien d’attraits et d’amours
Et d’autres grâces célestes,
Soit au visage, ou aux gestes,
Accompagnent ses discours?

Divin esprit, dont la France
Adorera l’excellence
Mille ans après ton trespas,
(Paris vaut bien l’Italie),
L’assistance te supplie
Que tu ne t’en ailles pas.»

(Isaac Du Ryer, «À Isabella Andreini» [vers 1604], in Frédéric Lachèvre, Un Émule inconnu au début du XVIIe siècle de Marthurin Régnier: Isaac Du Ryer (1568?-1634), Paris, Librairie Historique Margraff, 1943, p.119-120.)

- «Ma se della felice memoria della mia studiosa madre non io, ma altri parlar volesse, non direbbe che ‘n Roma fu non solo dipinta, ma coronata d’alloro in simulacro colorato fra ‘l Tasso e ‘l Petrarca, alor che, doppo una mensa fattale dall’Illustrissimo e Reverendissimo Cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, dov’erano per commensali sei Cardinali saputissimi, il Tasso, il Cavalier de’ Pazzi, l’Ongaro ed altri poeti preclari, sonettando e scrivendo improvisi, la stessa, doppo il Tasso, ne portò il primo vanto? Dia credito a questa doppo la sua morte in Lione l’essersi formate a memoria di lei medaglie grandi di bronzo, d’argento e d’oro, dall’una parte con l’imagine di Isabella Andreini, dall’altra una Fama con due trombe. Ed ogni giorno, pellegrine genti non solo da così famosa città passando vanno (mercé loro) ad onorar il sepolcro di quella con preghiere e celebrarla con lodi, ma cercano di quelle medaglie possedere.» (Giovan Battista Andreini, La Ferza. Ragionamento Secondo. Contra l’Accuse Date Alla Commedia [1625], cité par Ferruccio Marotti et Giovanna Romei (éd.), op. cit., p.521) [Mais si quelqu’un d’autre souhaiterait parler à ma place de la réputation heureuse de ma mère érudite, ne raconterait-il pas que lorsqu’elle fut invitée auprès du très illustre Monseigneur le cardinal Cinzio Aldobrandini, chez lequel se trouvaient également six doctes Cardinaux, le Tasse, le Chevalier de’ Pazzi, l’Ongaro et d‘autres poètes réputés, qu’elle fut non seulement dépeinte, mais également couronnée dans un simulacre coloré avec un laurier parmi Pétrarque et le Tasse, et qu’après avoir composé des sonnets et des écrits improvisés, elle remporta, après le Tasse, le premier prix? Ceci est prouvé par le fait qu’après sa mort, qui s’est produite à Lyon, on fabriqua des grandes médailles en bronze, en argent et en or qui représentent d’un côté l’image d’Isabella Andreini, de l’autre le symbole de la Fama avec deux trompettes. Tous les jours il y a des pèlerins qui passent par cette ville célèbre non seulement pour honorer (grâce à eux!) sa tombe, en priant et en la couvrant d’éloges, mais ils essayent également de s’approprier de ces médailles. (Traduction V. Denzel)]

- «I maggiori poeti d'Italia facean tutti a gara in celebrar questo tipo singolare di donna, che al raro sapere sembrò giungere una rara virtù, con versi di ogni maniera [...] Quanto al valore letterario d'Isabella Andreini, poco vi rimane da dire. In mezzo ai petrarcheggiamenti diluiti all'acqua di rosa, poteva stare anche Lei, non ultima certo. [...] Né s'ha da far troppo carico a Isabella di queste rettoriche e vacue piccinerie, poichè formavan pur troppo elemento non ultimo della Commedia dell'Arte.» (Luigi Rasi, I Comici italiani. Biografia, Bibliografia, Iconografia 3, Firenze/ Paris, Fratelli Bocca / Klincksieck, 1897, p.91-101) [Les plus grands poètes d'Italie célébrèrent à qui mieux mieux cette femme unique, qui sembla unir à son rare savoir une rare vertu, exprimée dans des vers de tous les styles. [...] Quant à la valeur littéraire d'Isabella Andreini, il reste peu à dire. Au milieu des vers pétrarquisants, dilués avec de l'eau à la rose, il y avait également un place pour Elle, qui n'était certainement pas la dernière [dans le rang][...]. Toutefois il ne faut pas trop reprocher à Isabella ces petitesses rhétoriques et vides, car malheureusement elles faisaient partie du style de la Commedia dell'Arte.» (Traduction V. Denzel)].

- «Se volessi descrivere a parte a parte tutte le virtù d'Isabella Andreini sarebbe cosa assai lunga, e per la debolezza de' miei talenti troppo malegevole impresa. Basterà solo, ch'io dica che ella fu eccellente Poetessa, saggia Filosofa, e valorosa Commediante. V'aggiungerò ancora, che fu Moglie fedele, Madre amorosa, ed esemplarissima Cristiana, pregi tutti che la resero un vero modello di virtù, ed uno specchio di saviezza, e d'onestà.» (Francesco Bartoli, Notizie storiche de' comici italiani che fiorirono intorno all'anno MDL fino a'giorni presenti, Padoue, Per Li Conzatti a S. Lorenzo, 1782, p.32-33. [«Si je voulais décrire un part un toutes les vertus d'Isabella Andreini, cela durerait trop longtemps et ce serait également une entreprise mal faite à cause de mon faible talent. Il suffit que je dise seulement qu'elle fut une excellente poétesse, une sage philosophe et une habile comédienne. J'ajouterai encore, qu'elle fut une épouse fidèle, une mère pleine d'amour et une chrétienne exemplaire; grâces à ces qualités elle devint un vrai modèle de vertu et un miroir de sagesse et d'honnêteté.» (Traduction V. Denzel)].

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