Laura Battiferri

Bronzino, Portrait of Laura Battiferri, c. 1560; Oil on canvas; Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

Laura Battiferri (1523–1589), also called Laura Battiferri Ammannati, was an Italian poet during the Renaissance period. She was born in Urbino, Marche, Italy as the illegitimate daughter of Giovanni Antonio Battiferri from Urbino and Maddalena Coccapani from Carpi, Emilia-Romagna. She published two books of poetry: The First Book of Tuscan Works (Florence, 1560) and The Seven Penitential Psalms… with some Spiritual Sonnets (Florence, 1564). She died in 1589 while compiling a third, Rime, which was never published. She married the sculptor, Bartolomeo Ammannati in 1550 and they remained married until her death. The couple had no children.