Her Twelve Gardens: An Examination of Caterina de’ Vigri’s Feminine Soundscapes

Abstract

Caterina de’Vigri (1413–1463) is best known to musicologists for her violeta, an instrument that survives and is found in the Corpus Domini Monastery of Bologna. Born in Bologna, she received her education in the household of the D’Este family in Ferrara and returned to Bologna as abbess of the convent of Poor Clares in the church of Corpus Domini. She was a visual artist, wrote and illuminated her own breviary, and penned laudas, stories, and poetry.While musicologists have examined her violeta, they have yet to investigate the sonic world evoked in her I dodici giardini (Twelve gardens). In this article, I will shed light on de’Vigri’s feminine musical soundscape by examining mentions of music in an early biography and her own descriptions of music-making in her I dodici giardini. I will argue that