Stampa, Gaspara

STAMPA, GASPARA. - Poet, b. in Padua in 1523, d. in Venice on 23 April 1554. Daughter of a Paduan jeweler, on his death she moved with her mother to Venice, where she learned Greek and Latin from Fortunio Spira, and music and singing from Pierisson Cambio; she took part in the Compagnia dei Dubbiosi and in the Accademia dei Pellegrini under the name of Anassilla.

Her "ridotto" was the most frequented by humanists, artists and poets in the decade 1540-50. In 1548 she fell in love with Collaltino di Collalto, "the beautiful cruel count" of the Marca Trevigiana, a very mediocre man. Abandoned by her idol, G. S. sought comfort in God ("Dolce Signor, non mi lasciar perire"), but also in earthly loves. She died the following year. "Arsi, piansi, cantai" was the brief life of this passionate woman. The men of letters of Romanticism made of her an innocent victim of love, those of Positivism a courtesan. The extreme opinions go back to two critics: A. Salza and G. A. Cesareo. The latter defended madonna Gasperina with good arguments. The S.'s canzoniere, although Petrarchan, is among the best of the 16th century for its ingenuousness of passion and power of expression. It transcends autobiographism and Platonism in certain lyrics of love and faith.

Maria Sticco