Costanza Sforza
Italian noblewoman (1550–1617)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Costanza Sforza of Santa Fiora (1550 – 22 January 1617) was an Italian noblewoman. By birth she was member of the powerful House of Sforza and by marriage member of the House of Boncompagni.
Costanza Sforza | |
|---|---|
| Duchess of Sora | |
 1594 portrait by Lavinia Fontana | |
| Born | 1550 |
| Died | 22 January 1617 |
| Noble family | Sforza |
| Spouse | Giacomo Boncompagni |
Early life
Costanza was daughter of Sforza Sforza, 1st Marquess of Castell'Arquato, 11th Count of Santa Fiora (1520 – Castell'Arquato, 21 October 1575), and his first wife Luigia Pallavicino (died in 1552), maternal granddaughter of Jacopo Salviati and wife Lucrezia de' Medici. She was a half-sister of Cardinal Francesco Sforza and paternal granddaughter of Costanza Farnese (daughter of Alessandro Farnese, later Pope Paul III).[1] She married Don Giacomo Boncompagni, 1st Marquess of Vignola, and 1st Duke of Sora, Aquino, Arce and Arpino, on 5 February 1576, and had fourteen children.[2]
Lavinia Fontana, a prominent Bolognese artist, painted her portrait in 1594. A year later, Constanza served as the namesake and godmother of Fontana's daughter.[3]
