Dignità, Nobiltà ed Eccellenza: le donne illustri nell’opera di Cristoforo Bronzini

Abstract

: Querelle des femmes . Letteratura italiana. Studi di genere. Cataloghi. Rinascimento italiano. ABSTRACT Starting from 1404, with the publication of Christine de Pizan's Città delle dame , in Europe we are witnessing the birth of the complex debate around the nature and virtues of women. There are many authors and authors who actively participate in the Querelle des femmes, questioning the social, artistic and political role of women. Defenders and detractors of the female cause confront each other through polarizing discourses that characterize and occupy over two centuries of European literature. The works of the controversy question the image of women as a naturally inferior subject, retracing the history of access to education and marriage relationships. The classical tradition of exempla is used by various authors who use female models belonging to history and mythology to affirm and defend equality between the sexes. In this article we follow the examples proposed by Cristoforo Bronzini in his Della Dignità e della nobiltà delle donne (1622) and outline the profiles of women, real and imaginary, who have contributed to the development of the ongoing process of female emancipation.