Tasso's Love Affair I

This book presents forged manuscripts describing “lost” details from the life and romances of the Renaissance poet Tasso, exploiting a long supposed love affair between himself and Leonora d’Este. Alberti went much further, however, claiming that Lucrezia, Leonora’s sister, also harbored amorous feelings for the poet, evidenced here by their competing amorous gifts to the poet. A “fac-simile” of a manuscript letter thus cites a present of embroidery made by Lucrezia revealing an elaborate allegory of Tasso’s life, which Leonora countered with a returned book gratefully adorned with a finely embroidered cover. Its title? Giovanni Boccaccio’s Labyrinth of Love, of course.