Barbara Flaminia detta Hortensia

Barbara Flaminia was the first actress in the Commedia dell’Arte of which we have documented news. Endowed with excellent artistic qualities, she performed in com-edies, tragicomedies, pastorals and in singing spectacles. In the Sixties of the Sixteenth century she was active in Mantua. After the marriage with Alberto Naselli (Zan Ga-nassa), she performed with her husband in Austria and in France and, between 1574 and 1584, steadily in Spain.