Laura Ammanati

Laura Ammanati (born Battiferri) was a celebrated poet and literary scholar in the cultural circles of Renaissance Florence, which included her husband, the prominent architect and sculptor Bartolomeo Ammanati, and Agnolo Bronzino, the erudite Mannerist artist who painted Battiferri’s portrait and exchanged sonnets with her. She was an honored member of literary societies such as the Accademia degli Intronati of Siena and the Accademia degli Assorditi in her native town of Urbino. Her principal collection of poems, Il primo libro delle opere toscane (The First Book of Works in Tuscan), was published in 1560.