SOURCE: Stortoni, Laura Ann. Introduction to Gaspara Stampa: Selected Poems, edited and translated by Laura Ann Stortoni and Mary Prentice Lillie, pp. ix-xxvii. New York: Italica, 1994.

In the following essay, Stortoni examines Stampa's life and proclaims her the greatest Italian female poet ever.

Gaspara Stampa (1523-1554) is generally regarded by most critics as not only the greatest woman poet of the Italian Renaissance, but also as the greatest Italian woman poet ever. She forms part of the traditional triptych of Italian Renaissance women poets, along with Veronica Gambara (1485-1550) and Vittoria Colonna (1492-1547); but she surpasses her courtly predecessors for poetic originality. She has also been one of the most controversial Italian women poets. “Was she a courtesan or not?” is the question—still unresolved—that has busied many critics.

Scholars have attempted to reconstruct her life on the basis of sparse biographical evidence, taking poetic and literary...