Tarquinia Molza was an Italian singer, poet, conductor, composer, and natural philosopher. She was considered a great virtuosa. She was involved with the famous Concerto delle donne, although whether she sang with them or coached them is not clear. She also played the viola bastarda.
Molza was born in Modena, the granddaughter of the poet :it:Francesco Maria Molza|Francesco Maria Molza, and the daughter of Camillus and Isabella Colombi. Her father agreed that she should have the same education as her brothers, and she learned Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and philosophy until she was sixteen. She studied with the scientist John Politiano and the poet Francis Patrizio, and learned astronomy from the mathematician Antony Guarini. She married Paolo Porrino in 1560, who supported her returning to school, where she studied with Francesco Patrizi. She was widowed by 1579.
Musical career
By 1583 she was living in Ferrara in the official capacity of lady-in-waiting to Duchess Margherita Gonzaga d'Este, where she was a famous performer, conductor, and composer. Molza was dismissed from her position in 1589 and returned to Mantua when she was accused of having an affair with Flemish composer Giaches de Wert. Minor nobility were not to involve themselves with members of the servant class. She claimed that her relationship with Wert was a friendship, and not sexual.
Many artistic works were dedicated to her; Francesco Patrizi wrote about her singing in his treatise L'amorosa filosofia, and she was perhaps the first singer to have a published biography dedicated to her. Her name appears among those on the Heritage Floor of Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party.
Honors
Molza was granted Roman citizenship in 1600, the only woman to have citizenship. The decree stated, "although the Senate has never accepted women in to the ranks of citizenship… Tarquinia Molza of Modena be numbered in the ranks of its most noble citizens with the title l'Unica, never before bestowed on anyone, in recognition of her singular virtues and merits."
