* * * * *

But it must be that heaven's own gracious gift
Which, with its breath, divine, inspires my soul,
Strikes forth these sparks unbidden by my will."

[Illustration: ISCHIA, FROM THE SEA
_Page 282_]

Vittoria Colonna was called the most beautiful and gifted woman of her
time in all Italy. Her life of nearly sixty years (1490-1547) lay
entirely in that period when the apathy of ten centuries was broken,
when the darkness fled before the dawning of a glorious day. New methods
of thought, revised taste in poetry, new discoveries of science, a
nobler progress in criticism, great discoveries, and a lofty and
unprecedented freedom of conviction marked the century between 1450 and
1550, stamping it as the marvellous time which we know as the
Renaissance, "that solemn fifteenth century which can hardly be studied
too much, not merely for its positive results in the things of the
intellect and the imagination, its concrete works of art, its special
and prominent personalities, with their profound aesthetic charm, but for
its general spirit and character, for the ethical qualities of which it
is a consummate type."

It was peculiarly fitting that Italy should take the initiative in
inaugurating this _vita nuova_. Italy had a language and literature and
art. Dante had delivered his solemn message and Petrarca his impassioned
song. Boccaccio had taught the gospel of gladness. Who shall analyze the
secret springs of their inspiration and reveal to what degree Ovid and
Horace and Virgil influenced the later literature? A new solar system
was established by Copernicus. America was discovered. Science entered
on her definite and ceaseless progress, and religion and art became
significant forces in human life. Printing had been invented and the
compass discovered.

Into this time of new forces, when everything was throbbing and
pulsating with life, was Vittoria Colonna born into social prestige and
splendor. Her father, Fabrizio Colonna, and her mother, Agnesina di
Montefeltro, a daughter of the Duke of Urbino, were then domiciled in
the castle of Marino, on the Lago d'Albano, a magnificent palace some
twelve miles from Rome, in which the Duke d'Amalfi (the father of
Fabrizio Colonna) lived, and which is still standing, filled with
memorials and relics of historic interest. Urbino, the seat of the
Montefeltro, is renowned as having been the birthplace of Raphael, who