Lucrezia de' Medici | |
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Duchess consort of Ferrara | |
Portrait of Lucrezia (di Cosimo) de' Medici attributed to Agnolo Bronzino.
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Born | 14 February 1545 Florence |
Died | 21 April 1561 Ferrara |
(aged 16)
Noble family |
Medici (by birth) Este (by marriage) |
Spouse(s) | Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara |
Father | Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany |
Mother | Eleanor of Toledo |
Lucrezia de' Medici (14 February 1545 – 21 April 1561) was Duchess consort of Ferrara by marriage to Alfonso II d'Este. She was the daughter of Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and Eleanor of Toledo.
Born in Florence, she was the first wife of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Modena and Ferrara, whom she married on 3 July 1558. She did not move to Ferrara until February 1560, for her husband Alfonso was fighting in France. Lucrezia died in 1561, probably from tuberculosis. For about a month her symptoms had been fever, severe weight loss, constant coughing and a permanently bleeding nose. Another possible cause of death, that is often speculated, is poisoning.
It is possible that she is the wife referred to in the poem "My Last Duchess" by Robert Browning.