The Pardon of Carlo Gesualdo by Giovanni Balducci (Church of Santa maria delle Grazie in Gesualdo), showing Eleonora bottom right.

Eleonora d'Este (1561–1637) was a Ferrarese noblewoman.

Life

Eleonora d'Este – an anonymous portrait from the ducal palace in Modena.

She was the daughter of Alfonso d'Este (an illegitimate son of Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara) and his first wife Giulia della Rovere (daughter of Francesco Maria I della Rovere). On 21 February 1594 she married the composer Carlo Gesualdo in Ferrara,^[1] four years after he murdered his first wife and her lover. Eleonora and Gesualdo's only child was the short-lived don Alfonsino (1595, Ferrara – October 1600, Gesualdo) and the marriage proved unhappy due to Gesualdo's greed and maltreatment.^[2] He died on 10 September 1613 and – although his will stated she would only keep his titles and her annuity if she stayed in Gesualdo – she moved to Modena, where she later died.

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