Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino
For other women of the same name, see Eleanor Gonzaga
. Uffizi Gallery, Italy.
Eleonora Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino was Duchess and sometime regent of Urbino by marriage to Francesco Maria I della Rovere, duke of Urbino.Life
She was the eldest of the seven children of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua, and Isabella d'Este. Her father was a notorious libertine, her mother a famous patroness of the arts. On 25 September 1509 she married Francesco Maria I della Rovere, duke of Urbino, son of Giovanni della Rovere, duca di Sora e Senegaglia, and Giovanna da Montefeltro, and nephew of Pope Julius II. Their two sons and three daughters would all have progeny.
Eleonora, who was largely responsible for the internal government of Urbino during her husband's exile, was an important patron of the arts in her own right. A princess of the highest culture, she was the friend of Pietro Bembo, Sadolet and Baldassarre Castiglione, as well as Torquato Tasso. Titian painted her once formally, in 1537, a companion to his portrait of her husband Francesco from the same year, but her face appears to be recognisable in three other Titian paintings of about that time: La Bella, Girl in the Fur Cloak and possibly the Venus of Urbino commissioned by her son Guidobaldo.Issue
- Federico della Rovere.
- Guidobaldo II della Rovere, married Giulia Varano and had issue; married Vittoria Farnese had issue.
- Giovanna della Rovere.
- Giovanni della Rovere.
- Caterina della Rovere.
- Beatrice della Rovere.
- Francesco Maria della Rovere.
- Ippolita della Rovere, reportedly married Antonio of Aragon, Duke of Montalto.
- Maria della Rovere.
- Elisabetta della Rovere, married Alberico I Cybo-Malaspina, Marquis of Massa and had issue.
- Giulia Feltria della Rovere, married Alfonso d'Este, Lord of Montecchio and had issue.
- Giulio Feltrio della Rovere, became a cardinal then later had issue :Ippolito and Giulio.
- Violante della Rovere.
