Lucrezia Bendidio (April 8, 1547 – after 1584) was an Italian singer and noblewoman from Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

. She started as a lady-in-waiting for Leonora d'Este in 1561. Many poets wrote of her great skill as a singer, including Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...

 and Giovanni Battista Pigna. She was in fact an early love of Tasso's in 1561, as well as of Cardinal Luigi d'Este

Luigi d'Este

Luigi d'Este was an Italian Catholic cardinal, the second of the five children of Ercole II d'Este, Duke of Modena and Ferrara, and Renée, daughter of Louis XII of France.-Biography:...

 and Pigna. Tasso's character "Licori" in his play Aminta

Aminta

Aminta is a play written by Torquato Tasso in 1573, represented during a garden party at the court of Ferrara. Both the actors and the public were noble persons living at the Court, who could understand subtle allusions the poet made to that style of life, in contrast with the life of shepherds,...

was based on her. She was part of the famous Concerto delle donne

Concerto delle donne

The concerto delle donne was a group of professional female singers in the late Renaissance court of Ferrara, Italy, renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity. The ensemble was founded by Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, in 1580 and was active until the court was dissolved in 1597...

during its early period. She was later married to Count Baldassare Macchiavelli of Ferrara. With her sister Isabella Bendidio

Isabella Bendidio

Isabella Bendidio was a Ferrarese noblewoman who, along with her sister Lucrezia Bendidio, sang in the first incarnation of the concerto delle donne as part of the court's musica secreta...

 she sang for private court

Noble court

The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...

 evenings as part of the musica secreta of the court. Another sister, Taddea, married Giovanni Battista Guarini

Giovanni Battista Guarini

Giovanni Battista Guarini was an Italian poet, dramatist, and diplomat.- Life :He was born in Ferrara, and spent his early life both in Padua and Ferrara, entering the service of Alfonso II d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, in 1567...

; their daughter Anna Guarini

Anna Guarini

Anna Guarini, Contessa Trotti, was an Italian virtuoso singer of the late Renaissance. She was one of the most renowned singers of the age, and was one of the four concerto di donne at the Ferrara court of the d'Este family, for whom many composers wrote in a progressive style.- Life and murder...

was a singer in the concerto delle donne during the second period.