Meanwhile, in the Renaissance, besides the impressive attribution in arts and literature, women’s public status in holding the power and influence were also worth nothing. Some widows once control her husband’s power and some used their wealth to become patrons. Unlike the England and France, no woman became the authority in court or seized political power in Italy. “They could not appear in the court but had to be represented by their ‘guardian’, usually a father or husband. In the case of orphans and widows, guardianship passed to the closest male relative in the male line” (Opitz 269). Nevertheless, compared to the absolute silence before the Renaissance, some women were quite special that they once had a position on the public affair. For …show more content…
Instead, “she fiercely defended her family’s interests and the cities of Imola and Forli” (King 158). Also some aristocratic women generously spent their money to support the arts and helped push forward the Italian Renaissance. Among them, Isabella d’Este was a noticeable patroness. She appeared in the court and was responsible for “festivities and performances, artists, musicians and scholars, libraries filled with elegant volumes”. She herself was well-educated and had high-level art cultivation. Isabella sponsored those artists she appreciated, such as poet Ariosto, Bernardo de Bibbiena, and Giovan Giorgio Trissino. What’s more, she took over her husband’s position shortly after he died. (King 162). A Italian book written in the Renaissance period, called The Book of the courtier (Il libro del cortigiano), stated that: “ No court ‘however great, can have adornment or splendor or gaiety in it without ladies” (King 163). The author Baldassare Castiglione admitted the important and necessary role women played in the court and his positive appraisal to women showed the increasingly social appreciation and respect for female in the Italian